


Regeneration

by wantingfornothing



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-24
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-25 13:48:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3812803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wantingfornothing/pseuds/wantingfornothing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ultron has been ruling on earth for almost twenty years. Tony Stark has kept the children of the Avengers hidden away. When it becomes apparent that he cannot keep them safe for much longer, he resorts to their final option to save the world; Project: Regenerate. One of the children will be sent back in time where they will have to convince their parents of the coming apocalypse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Apocalypse

**Author's Note:**

> This story combines canon from Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow with MCU heading into Age of Ultron. You don't necessarily have to watch Next Avengers before reading this nor will it spoil much. I basically retold the first 12 minutes of the movie but it will completely take a different turn from there. However if you haven't seen or read Next Avengers, there is some brief info at the end of this chapter to help you out if you're confused. Enjoy!
> 
> MUSIC FOR THIS CHAPTER  
> Time's Up - John Ottman  
> Hope - John Ottman  
> I Found Them - John Ottman  
> He Lost Everything - John Ottman  
> Resistance - Muse

"Tony! Tell us the story again!"

The knight smiled ever so slightly at the young boy, momentarily bringing solace to the lines that from years of pain and guilt, forever marked his face.

"Start at the very beginning," James spoke softly, eyes gazing intently at his guardian.

"Alright...Many years ago, the earth saw an age of heroes: great men and women, gods and monsters. They were noble warriors; soldiers who fought the battles that humanity on its own, never could. They defended us against adversaries beyond anything we could fathom. Evil cults and alien armies: they defeated them all. These extraordinary heroes were known as the Avengers."

***

The knight sighed as he watched the children under his care drift off to sleep. He quietly closed the door to Pym's room and walked outside. Vision would be back soon. He looked up to the artificial sky above his head. The stars shone with a glimmer of hope from a time long past. This place felt safe. He had constructed this safe haven like he once did suits of armour. But it might as well have been a tomb. The children would never see the outside world. They would never truly be free.

The earth was under Ultron's rule…and it had been, for almost two decades.

* * *

2035 A.D.

Azari flung himself through the green shrubbery. The expanse of jungle was so thick that at his current speed he could not see more than two feet in front of him. The humidity in the air caused beads of sweat to pool at the back of his neck. Adrenaline pumped through his veins. He glanced behind him to catch a glimpse of Pym's tiny figure.

"I almost got you, Azari!" the young boy exclaimed.

Azari smiled and back flipped high in the air. He landed behind Pym and cupped his hands around the miniature boy's body.

"You're it little man!"

***

Torunn sat by the fountain, eyes locked to the god's headstone and then to her sword in deep contemplation. It was the only thing that connected her to her father, and to Asgard. She had dreamt of it again.

"...I know thee to be real." She silently prayed to Heimdall in hopes that her father would receive her message.

"You're it Torunn!" Pym lightly tapped her on the back, and grabbed her sword, quickly growing back to his normal size.

After struggling to lift it, Pym backed away in defeat, and Torunn turned around looking angry. She sent the handle of her sword to her palm, "Pym I pray that my father will one day grant me the strength to smite thee once and for all!"

"That's not how tag works, Torunn," Azari landed softly in between the two.

"An immortal Asgardian warrior runs from no one. You, Pym, and James are about to taste my sword's wrath!" Her expression softened and she looked up toward the bungalows with curious eyes, "Where's James?"

***

Francis looked out among the ruin and surveyed his surroundings. The grimy undergrounds of Ultra city were dark, and particles of dirt and dust thickened the already stale air, making it difficult to see and breathe.

He had been separated from the other scavengers when an Ultron drone fired at them, creating a cloud of smoke in the chaos. They were on their usual patrol: avoiding drones, seeking sustenance, and keeping a lookout for any human casualties. He ran a hand through his dirty hair and across his forehead. Amongst the sweat and grime, he felt a fresh cut just above his eyebrow. Francis looked around for his weapons and the bag of food he had been carrying. He noticed that his pants and jacket were blackened in the explosion.

He took a step forward after finally coming out of his stupor. Something hard and round met the underside of his worn out sneakers. He lifted his foot and noticed a human skull half embedded within the dirt, one that had most likely been there for a few years.

These kinds of things no longer fazed him. He was a vigilante in a post-apocalyptic hell scape. He spotted his bow a few feet ahead of him and moved to pick it up. He realized that the bag of food was lost, and decided that later he would sacrifice his rations for the evening to apologize.

As he began walking back in the direction of the scavenger's camp, he heard another commotion. Fearing it to be more drones, he pulled out his bow and an explosive arrow from his quiver. A red-skinned figure dressed in green and yellow descended in front of him. Francis kept his hands steady and his face straight but inside he was panicking. He had never seen a robot like this as of yet.

 _"Do not fret,"_ the robot spoke, _"I am not going to hurt you. I am an Avenger."_

Francis gasped at the familiarity of the term.

_"Young man, who are you?"_

Sensing that the robot was not a threat, he began to lower his bow, "Francis. Francis Barton."

***

James Rogers awoke to a sharp electric shock on his right foot. He screamed, jolting awake and sending Azari flying backwards and out the door.

"I'm going back to bed."

Azari pulled himself from the mud, "What's your problem, James! You've been sleeping all day, missing training, and putting off your chores!"

James back flipped off of the porch of the bungalow and landed in front of Azari, "What's the point? Nothing's ever gonna happen in this place. Look around you. We're stuck in here, and we're always going to be stuck in here."

"The point is not to be such a jerk!" Torunn shouted.

"Oh that's right," James responded smugly, "There's no point for us because our parents are dead. Your dad just abandoned you so there's still hope."

Torunn yelled in anger and immediately turned to pull her sword on James. He turned on his shield to block her swing.

"That's enough." Tony was standing just a few feet away in the sand. The children quickly put down their weapons. "James, Torunn, go to your bungalows and cool off." They obeyed their guardian's words. As James reluctantly climbed the steps to his porch Tony addressed him again.

"James, wait," he sighed, "I know you feel trapped here with just the five of us but don't take it out on your brothers and sister. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me."

"I'll apologize later."

Tony ignored his comment, "Your father was never good at doing nothing either. As soon as any threat arose, he had to act right away. I looked up to him a lot. A lot of people did. You know you can always come talk to me James."

"It's not the same," James looked down with solemn eyes, "You're not my dad."

Tony sighed once more.

In that moment, the alarm began to blare loudly throughout the dome.

They all looked up and gasped. Tony screamed out, "Get to the bungalows until I give the all clear!"

Once safely inside, Pym's bottom lip quivered in fear, "What if- What if it's U-Ultron?"

A loud crash could be heard from outside the bungalows. The children rushed back out to survey the scene.

A human-looking figure donning a green suit and yellow cape with red skin laid on the ground.

 _"The drones in Ultra city have been upgraded. One was able to damage my immaterial form as I left."_  
  
"It's a...robot?" asked Azari rhetorically.

Tony quickly walked over to the robot lying in the sand. He wore a look of panic and worry, which made the children feel uneasy, "Vision! We're you followed?"

 _"No sir. But did I set off the alarms? Perhaps my electronic access codes were damaged?"_  
  
"Alright, come on let's get you to the workshop," Tony lifted Vision up off the ground and placed one of his arms around his own shoulder to support his weight.

"Tony?" a bewildered James spoke with concern.

"I promise I'll explain everything as soon as I take care of my friend here," Tony replied, "For now, please stay put."

Tony helped Vision over toward the fountain. Once he was within arm's reach of the knight's headstone, he held his palm up to the relief carving of his Iron Man mask. The circular slab of stone in the centre of the fountain slid away, revealing a staircase that lead to Tony's secret headquarters. It was down here that he kept all of his secrets hidden from the children, for their own protection. He couldn't bring himself to tell them that he too was a member of the Avengers. He couldn't tell them that the only reason he was still alive was because he had fathered the very robot that had killed their parents.

Tony set Vision down on a worktable and proceeded to open him up, "How did they find you?"

_"I was accessing the mainframe. All of Europe has now been subjugated by the machine forces since my last report. Drones are gathering along the Pacific Rim and Eastern Europe. The invasion of Asia will soon commence."_

"In twenty years he's conquered half the planet," Tony's paused and his breathing hitched.

Vision spoke up again, _"Also...sir, Clint Barton's son is alive."_

He gasped, "He's...I thought...When I couldn't get to him all those years ago I had assumed Ultron would have killed him. Being Clint's son ties him to the Avengers, which puts him higher on Ultron's kill list," Tony gulped, "He's in Ultra city?"

_"Yes, he lives underground among a pack of human survivors. I scanned his DNA myself, sir. It was he."_

Tony swallowed hard, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach, "Vision I think it's time."

 _"Project: Regenerate, sir?"_  
  
Tony nodded, "It's time to tell the kids everything. I can't keep lying to them anymore, Vision. I can't. I can't live another day like this."

_"I agree, sir. We have kept them hidden away here all this time but what was the plan? Train them to one day finish what their parents started? They can never be ready. They have lived the whole of their lives inside of a bio-dome. I calculate Operation: Regenerate is our best option to ensuring Ultron's demise."_

Tony plopped himself down onto a stool and pinched the skin between his eyebrows, "I was never going to send them out there. I thought I could. But I can't. These...kids...are my family. I already destroyed the first one, and I'm still doing a pretty shitty job. I couldn't even save all five of the kids. I left one of them out there to fend for him self. He's sixteen," he forced an oncoming sob into a laughing cry as tears began to pool in his eyes, "Pep always said fatherhood would do well to straighten me out...just...another thing she deserved that I couldn't give her." He paused at his own mention of his deceased fiancée's name.

"You know Janet was the last one I spoke to...that day. I was connected to her comm. And when circumstance became apparent I had asked her what I was supposed to do next. She didn't say what I was expecting. She didn't tell me to hide her son away and keep him safe. She said, 'He will finish this. He is the future.'"

 _"She had faith,"_ Vision noticed how truly devastated Tony was.

"I didn't realize what that meant until now."

Tony stood up abruptly, resolution temporarily replacing the sadness in his eyes, "Vision exactly how long has is been since our last communication with Banner?"

_"That was six years and twenty-seven days ago."_

"Do we have any way to contact him?"

_"No, sir. As I had detailed in a past report, I have scouted Doctor Banner's last known location myself. He did not leave any indication as to where he was going next but we know that he is alive because Ultron cannot kill him. He is most obviously in remote hiding."_

"Right. We're gonna have to do this without him."

_"Sir, the project has been on the brink of completion for the last two years. We do not necessarily require Doctor Banner's intel to initiate Project: Regenerate..."_

"Vision I was hoping for the moral support," Tony quipped, "It's okay. I never expected Bruce or Thor to forgive me."

_"If I may...Thor may have made abstained from contact for over fifteen years but he did entrust you to look after Torunn. Twenty years is a mere blink in the life of an Asgardian but twenty years under Ultron's rule most certainly is not. He may still be angry with you for bringing Ultron into this world but despite that, he believed that you were fit to raise his daughter. I recall that he insinuated he wanted her to learn what it means to be human- a humbling and morally enriching experience that she could never hope to gain being on Asgard."_

Tony attempted to smile, "He wanted to raise her here with Jane." Just then, he could hear a ruckus coming from the far end of the room.

Shocked, Torunn allowed her sword to fall from her hand, "My father-h-he loves me?"

"Ow! Torunn watch where you put that thing."

Pym gasped as he realized Tony had heard them, and cupped his hands to his mouth. Azari sighed and motioned for the others to follow him out of their hiding spot, "We're sorry, Tony. We disobeyed you."

Tony shook his head, "No, I'm sorry," he swallowed, "How much of that did you guys hear?"

"We know you were the knight," James interrupted, "We saw the robots you built. They-they look just like your stories said they did. D-did you think you could just recreate artificial versions of our parents to make up for making Ultron?!" he held a look of utter betrayal, "What else have you been hiding down here?" Tony had to fight back more tears.

"Ultron was supposed to be a symbol of peace. I created him to establish order, but he got smarter. He turned on us, and eventually decided that the only way to truly save the world was to rid it of its heroes...I want to be honest with you guys...I couldn't bring myself to tell you before but you have a right to know. I'm the reason your parents are dead. Torunn I'm the reason Thor left Midgard, I'm the reason the Hulk has gone into hiding. And I'm the reason that millions of people are dead. Ultron couldn't kill me because I created him. So after your parents were killed I brought you all here to keep you safe. This started out as a secret arctic facility for Stark Industries. I retrofitted it to be a home where I could raise the four of you in peace. But I can't do that much longer. I've been sending Vision outside the dome periodically over the past twenty years. His data tells me that Ultron has dismantled all opposing forces. Everyone out there is now subject to his rule. He has an army of machines at his disposal. It's only a matter of time before he finds us. I'm not sure how much longer I can protect you here. That's the full, sad truth that I tried to spare you from. There is nothing more that we can do to save this world."

Tony allowed his tears to fall and the children's terrified faces made him feel even more empty.

"No," James spoke up with a hard edge to the word, "This can't be the end. We have to fight!"

"James...he defeated your parents- the strongest people I've ever known. He knows all of your strengths and weaknesses. And his ability to corrupt machinery renders my tech useless. He will kill us if he ever finds out we're here. It's a suicide mission."

"Then why did you spend years training us in here? If there's nothing more to do why are we hiding?"

"At first I thought that allowing you four to exercise your powers and abilities would enable you to one day go out there and fight as your parents did. But after a while it became apparent that it was a lost cause. Ultron got stronger. Although I don't think I would have ever been able to willingly send you out there. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to any of you. I made a promise to your parents."

"What happened to them? How did my parents die?" James asked softly.

Tony sighed, "They were killed taking down an army of drones. That day, your mother wanted to join your father. He had already been wounded but he refused to wait and recover because for each second we spent idling, Ultron would grow stronger. Steve died first. Ultron had grabbed him by the neck and thrown him across a roadway, momentarily incapacitating him. Then he walked over to the shield which lay a few feet away on the ground, and crushed it with his foot," Tony had to pause at the painful memory.

"I thought the soldier's shield was indestructible?" young Pym asked.

"It was Pym. But Ultron had upgraded his armour with vibranium plates. And since the shield was made of the same metal, he was able to break it. He-he picked up one of the metal shards and walked over to Steve's body. Then he drove the shard through his heart," reliving the death of the super soldier had utterly disturbed Tony.

James' eyes were rimmed with tears and he kept looking straight at Tony with anger and despair as he continued to speak.

"Natasha was running over to the scene when she had witnessed what had happened. She screamed your father's name after Ultron had stabbed him. And we were all listening in on the comms so we knew right away what that meant. I had never seen her cry before that day. Clint-the archer had distracted Ultron for a brief moment. Natasha fell to her knees by Steve's body and held him in her arms as his consciousness slipped away. In a rage she got back up and picked up one of the shards, intending to jab it into Ultron's mainframe. Then she-she noticed Clint's mangled corpse a few feet away," Tony ran a hand over his eyes, "I remember her yelling and crying out to Ultron to come and fight her. Your mother was a very strong woman. And she held out for quiet some time. But-uh...eventually...Ultron had managed to jab her in the stomach, and she was pinned to the ground. She bled out before anyone else could get to her. James I'm so sorry. Now you understand why I can't send you kids out there."

"Well we're not kids anymore. That's not your call to make," James still spoke with lingering anger in his tone, "It doesn't matter what happens to us! People have been out there suffering and dying while we've been playing fantasy."

Pym ran up to Tony and hugged him at the waist. The young boy also had tears in his eyes.

"What about the Hulk?" Azari asked, "You mentioned he was still alive."

"Or my father?" Torunn added.

"I lost contact with the Hulk years ago. I already sent Vision out countless times to try to find him but we can only do so much fieldwork out there. The big guy doesn't want to be found. And Thor doesn't exactly answer my calls. After his human lover was killed he couldn't bare to stay on Midgard any longer. He figured there was no chance of winning this fight so he went home to take care of the rest of the nine realms. Torunn he only left you here because I had told him I had a safe place to raise the others. And he didn't want to deprive you of what it felt like to grow and learn among mortal beings."

Torunn glanced downward in solemn contemplation.

After a moment of silence it appeared as if no one had anything else to say, so James piped up, "If you've told us everything we need to know and there really is no hope, then there's no point of staying and playing pretend. I won't die in here. I'm gonna go out fighting." He began to walk towards the exit of the lab. Azari, Pym, and Torunn remained frozen in fear, unsure of what they should do next.

"James, wait," Tony swallowed hard and continued.

The boy stopped and turned back around, slightly softening his troubled features, "You've just said it yourself Tony. There's nothing more we can do."

"I said there's nothing we can do to save _this_ world..." he took a breath, "...Didn't say anything about saving the old one," the sadness displayed on the old man's face was replaced with pure determination. The children each looked to Tony with a glint of hope in their eyes.

"What do you mean," Torunn took a step forward and tilted her head slightly.

The man of iron continued, "Somewhere out there in an alternate universe, exists the future that we should have had- one where Ultron was never allowed to take control...where your parents and countless others are still alive...and we can get it back."

"You don't mean?" Azari's eyes widened.

"Yes...time travel."

 


	2. Renaissance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MUSIC FOR THIS CHAPTER:  
> There’s Always a Flaw - James Newton Howard  
> Time - Hans Zimmer  
> Redemption - Muse  
> How Was She? - John Ottman  
> All Those Voices - John Ottman

"T-time travel?" Pym repeated the phrase with a voice of bewilderment and uncertainty.  
  
"How is it possible?" James asked. He was still reluctant to take another step forward.  
  
Before Tony could speak, Vision cut into the tension and began to recite from his archive, _"Mr. Stark has worked alongside Bruce Banner to establish Project: Regenerate. The project was first opened in 2018 and up until 2029, Doctor Banner, through distant communication has relayed his insights. The project is near completion."  
_   
"You were planning this all along? You and the Hulk?" Azari asked, eyes wide.  
  
"It was something I had thought about long before Ultron. But obviously, I was limited by the technology of that time. Banner and I kept contact after Ultron's initial takeover of North America in 2015; that was when the Avengers were destroyed and Ultron began his rule," Tony crossed his arms. "After the dust had sort of settled the thought crept into my mind again. And suddenly it no longer seemed impractical. Ultron's understanding of his own technology has given birth to machinery that we never could have comprehended...For one, he turned a few dozen drones into an entire army."  
  
Tony walked over to Where Vision lay, "I presented the idea to Banner after Vision finally found him. He was still pissed at me but he agreed to help. He realized it could potentially undo everything; make it seem like the last twenty years never happened. We spent years relaying data back and forth, experimenting with gamma radiation and conducting research on tach ions. Every time I disappeared, it was because I was down here, working. I decided I would tell you guys if and when the project was ever successful...didn't want to give you false hope," he paused to observe how the children were taking it all in. When he saw that they looked eager to know more, he continued, "Anyways, Vision and I started the physical construction when we believed that our equation could work. It failed. Banner had decided it was time to call it quits. Human beings have been trying to unlock the secrets of time travel for years. To be achieved by only two scientists with limited resources, it would take a miracle. I almost gave up. And then one day, the answer presented itself...through you, Torunn." The man of iron looked toward her with warm eyes.  
  
"Me?" she asked.  
  
"Your sword is the only tangible piece of Asgardian science at our disposal. One day I was watching you during training, and it clicked. Thor sent it to you over fifteen years ago."  
  
"I remember..." Torunn was staring blanking at her sword, which was resting at her feet, "But he never delivered it himself."  
  
"Exactly. The bifrost. The tesseract- all items used to cross the dimensions of time and space. I looked back at all of the remaining archives from S.H.I.E.L.D. that I was able to bring down here with me. Vision and I analyzed your sword to see if we could cross reference it with the data we had on Loki's sceptre...It exhibits the same properties. When it was sent through the bifrost it retained some of the radiation. Banner and I used that to recreate our equation and apply it to the machine I had built," he swallowed, "Since this machine's technology was based off of the bifrost, we could also potentially send something back to a specific place."  
  
"Then what happened?" Pym jumped up slightly with a tinge of excitement.  
  
"When I was ready to test it I told Banner to expect a parcel from me. Then I would wait three days and proceed to send something through. He called me after the second day to say that something had arrived, but he didn't specify what. I had waited another day and sent the ‘parcel’ through at the exact moment I had originally planned. I never asked him what it was. I had to decide what to send through on my own. It had to be spontaneous. Otherwise, we risked creating a time fracture. I called him immediately after Vision and I sent it through and that's when he specified that a bag of genetically modified blueberries had appeared inside of his hideout...at the exact coordinates he had given me. They were the same blueberries that grow inside the dome. And he realized that I must have sent them because back in 2012, the first snack I had brought into our lab when we started working together to locate the tesseract was..."  
  
"Blueberries." Azari looked completely mind blown.  
  
Tony nodded.  
  
James had walked back to join the others in the centre of the room, "So it works."  
  
"There's a catch," Tony continued,   
"The machine works similarly to the bifrost, meaning that it connects to another time and place and essentially creates a portal for something to pass through. The portal will stay open until either the person on the machine end closes it, or the past is altered to such an extent that it forces the portal to close abruptly. Once it closes, whatever happened on the other side becomes the new reality," he paused and continued, "I didn't tell Banner this right away but a few days later I had opened up another portal to test it again. I sent a wrench one hour back...had it set to end up in a cupboard where I wouldn't find it until that moment. Using its particle data, I immediately tried to locate it and send it back. But when I did, the machine couldn't find the wrench at all. Then I realized; in that timeframe there now existed two of the same object. The portal couldn't reconcile between the two."  
  
Torunn's breathing hitched. James and Azari looked equally perplexed.  
  
"What does that mean?" Pym looked up, now seemingly distressed.  
  
"It means he can only send something that doesn't already exist in that timeframe." James answered.  
  
"Exactly. One hour isn't that big of a deal, but imagine if I had sent myself back five years. There'd be no way for me return. And, it's just hypothesis right now, but worse things could've happened. My younger self might have inherited memories that I hadn't experienced yet, and the unresolved temporal loop could potentially blink me, and God knows what else out of existence." Tony walked over to the lower cupboard near his workbench and pulled out the wrench he was referring to. "Reality wasn't affected by this because a wrench isn't capable of making decisions. But if a person goes through...a conscious living being...the risks become far greater. We can think and act freely. _We_ make history. We make the world what it is. That's why sending people through is much more dangerous."  
  
"So we must send someone who was not yet alive then," the Asgardian glanced up and softly let out the breath she seemed to forget she was holding.  
  
"When I finally told Bruce about the wrench experiment he agreed to do some more research on particle data to see if he could work out a solution; a way for me to still send myself back. After a few months he told me that it didn't look promising. And then he stopped responding. And Vision has been trying to find him since."  
  
"So send one of us," James stared right into Tony's eyes, his expression blank, features hardened, "Screw Banner. How can he just run away and hide-"  
  
"James, you gotta understand. Ultron can use the Hulk as a weapon against the remaining populace. I guarantee you wouldn't want that on your conscience...Knowing Bruce he's probably out somewhere with no communications for miles...desert maybe," Tony's voice got quieter again as he thought about how truly broken his friend had become, "Honestly, if there was a way for him to kill himself, he would've done it by now."  
  
The kids had no idea what to say next. After a moment Tony spoke up again.  
  
"Look," he shook his head, "I needed it to be me. I was younger then: stubborn, arrogant. I'm not sure I would believe-," he gestured at their surroundings with his hands, "...all this, coming from some random kid...And not to mention you kids have never even stepped foot outside of this bio dome. 2015 was a different world."  
  
"So...you want to go back to 2015?" Azari asked.  
  
"That's when it all started."  
  
Vision cut into Tony's monologue once more, _"Project: Regenerate requires an individual to be sent back to March of the year 2015, to convince the younger Avengers of Ultron's coming takeover before he is able to upgrade his mainframe. Without the particle data from Doctor Banner, Mister Stark's rate of success declines from 64% to 32%. Sir, we must move forward with the next phase."  
_   
"I guess we have no choice. I have to believe that this can still work."  
  
Tony set the wrench down on one of the worktables. "Follow me." He motioned with his hand toward the door he began walking to. The children slowly followed him through the dingy, mechanical underworld.   
  
"I can't believe all this was here...all this time. We have to explore it someday!" Pym glanced about, awestruck by his surroundings."  
  
Tony smiled softly at the young boy's innocent nature. He truly didn't realize what was about to happen.   
  
"Pym, I don't think that's gonna be possible," Azari informed, "When we change the past, we're not going to remember this life."  
  
"Actually, Tony?" Torunn suddenly became curious.  
  
"Mmmhmm?" He acknowledged her as he pulled a key from his breast pocket.  
  
"We will not remember anything, but what about the person that travels back in time. When they return, will they still carry the memories of _this_ future?"  
  
"They should...assuming that all of our calculations are correct. We've never sent a person through, or that far back for that matter."  
  
They approached what looked like a very thick, steel door. Tony plugged the key into the slot. A touchpad was drawn out from the wall. Tony placed him thumb onto the pad, then began punching in a code. Immediately, the dome's A.I. spoke up, _"Regeneration chamber: active. Welcome back, Mr. Stark."_  
  
"Thanks Jocasta."  
  
The door slid open and Tony allowed the kids to walk in first. The room was of average size; enough room for the machine in the centre and a work area off to the side. Cables crisscrossed the floor of the room at seemingly jarring angles, all connected to the machine. Tony walked closer to it and the others followed.  
  
"What you're looking at,” he turned to face them and continued stepping backwards as he spoke, “…is Midgard's first time machine."  
  
"Woah," Pym exclaimed slowly, his voice a long, breathy sigh.  
  
The machine was entirely made of steel, with wires and cables extruding from various slots. At the far end, there was a chair-like bed made of the same steel, but lined with a thin cushion. James poked the cushion with his index finger and it immediately retracted to erase the impression. The other end was essentially just a giant box, but it appeared that the chair would slide into the box chamber once a person or object laid upon it.  
  
"It's not very attractive-looking, but granted it is well ahead of its time...pun intended." Tony commented as the children observed. After a few minutes of letting them take it all in he spoke again, "Are you guys ready?"  
  
They nodded. James added, "Yes."  
  
"Alright. All that's left is to decide which one of you is going to go...I've been waiting a long time for this moment...I guess we all have. This is our second chance," he smiled reassuringly, to ease the young minds before him.  
  
"So who's it gonna be?" Azari asked, glancing between each face before him.  
  
"It definitely can't be Torunn. She was born in 2010, and in 2015 she was living on Midgard."  
  
Torunn nodded. She realized and accepted that she would not be seeing her father quite yet.   
  
"What about me?" Pym jumped and raised his hand.  
  
Azari placed a hand on the young boy's shoulder, "Pym...no."  
  
"Pym," Tony knelt down on one knee to place himself at eye level with the kid, "This mission is going to require a lot of thinking, adapting, and the ability to handle pressure. Every decision you make can potentially change anything. Time travel is a fragile thing. Do you understand why you might be too young to handle it?"  
  
Pym gulped and nodded, "I think so."   
  
"Good. I promise that staying behind makes you no less important. After all, we need to protect the machine while the portal's open."  
  
He stood up and turned to address Azari and James, who were standing next to one another, "I think both of you are capable of handling this. But I want you to understand exactly what the fate of the world is asking of you. This will be the first time that a human being travels through this machine. Our understanding of tach ions gives us an idea of what will happen but we can't be sure. I want you to realize, that this may in fact be a suicide mission. You may not come back in the same state that you left. You may not come back at all. Are you prepared for that?"  
  
Both boys nodded.   
  
"Alright...I'm just thinking. Azari, in 2015 I hadn't met T'Challa yet. He joined the fight later when Ultron drones had moved into Africa. He was a valuable ally and friend. However, no matter what he was to me and the other Avengers, in the timeframe that we need to access, we didn't know of his existence yet. Not even S.H.I.E.L.D. knew of him. It was the same with Pym's parents; we hadn't met them yet. If I send you, You'll have no way to tie yourself to the Avengers...I was so stubborn back then," Tony closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose.  
  
"But you knew _my_ parents,"  
  
Tony opened his eyes and tilted his head up.   
  
"It has to be James," Azari's tone was assertive.  
  
"Yes."  
  
***  
  
James stared up at the ceiling above him. The light cascaded and bounced off the grooves of the bedrock. He was lying in the chair, and several thoughts ran through his head. A few moments from now, he would either be dead, or he would be in a foreign world; somewhere new and intimidating, yet at the same time exciting.  
  
He would meet his parents.  
  
A shiver ran through James' spine. He was trembling slightly from nervousness, and beads of sweat began to pool on his forehead.   
  
"James? How do you feel?" Tony asked after he finished aligning more cables.  
  
"Alright."  
  
"Looks like we're all set to go. If you need a minute, don't hesitate."  
  
"I'm ready."  
  
Tony looked down as he stepped closer to the chair to meet James, expression. He responded with a genuine look. His lips were lightly pressed in a thin line and his eyes seemed to glow, "Your father would be proud."  
  
James absorbed the words. His father...he would see him soon...no matter the outcome of this experiment.  
  
"Before I hit that button I need to leave you with a few important details. When you pass through, you might experience some pain. I don't know for sure what you'll feel. But I want you to be prepared for anything. You're aware that Ultra City was the first place Ultron conquered. Well before it was Ultra City it was known as New York. I'm sending you to a place called Avengers Tower- beats an abandoned facility in the middle of the Arctic Circle,” he smiled sarcastically, hoping the humour would ease James’ mind. “You should wake up on one of the guest floors. All you have to do is find an elevator and keep searching until you find someone. In 2013, my house was destroyed...long story...but point is in 2015 I was living in this tower with my...partner, a ginger named Pepper." He had to compose himself when mentioning his lover. "You might also see my chauffeur, a big man by the name of Happy, or my good friend Colonel Rhodes."  
  
"War machine," James interrupted. He remembered the stories.  
  
"Yup," Tony looked down as he began adjusting a large dial on the side of the steel chamber, "I'm sending you back to March 10th. That should give you enough time," he turned to look James in the eyes again, "Find me; convince me of all this. And, only tell us what we need to know. The more you reveal about the future, the more we risk creating an anomaly...That being said, assuming you're successful, this bad future is going to disappear...and when it does, the portal will close. Before that happens, you need to tell me to start up Project: Regenerate...so that I can re-open the portal for you on today's date, July 25th, 2035. If I don't do this," Tony gulped and placed his palm on the boy's forehead, "This version of you will blink out of existence when the portal closes."  
  
"Got it."   
  
Tony retracted his arm, "One more thing...I know that when you meet your parents back there, you're gonna be excited. But you need to be patient with them James. They weren't together yet in 2015. If you try to force anything between them, you risk altering their paths...and yours."  
  
James was reluctant to acknowledge it at first, but it didn't take long for him to clue in that one tiny slip up could very well blink him, and maybe even more out of existence if he wasn't careful.   
  
"And please, be patient with me. Like I said, I was a different man then."  
  
The rest of the kids walked up to the machine to stand beside their brother.  
  
"Right. That it then?" The redheaded boy curved the corner of his mouth up into a playful smirk.   
  
"Stay alive," Torunn smiled.  
  
"We'll try to protect the portal for as long as we can. Vision thinks Jocasta's cloaking protocols can buy us at least a few days before Ultron finds us." Azari relayed what Tony and Vision had briefed the three of them on moments earlier.  
  
"I'll try to hurry up then."  
  
Pym placed his hand on James' shoulder and the redhead turned his neck to make eye contact with his younger brother for possibly the last time. Pym didn't remove his arm until a whirring noise could be heard and the chair began to retract into the chamber.   
  
"I've started the initiation sequence," Tony spoke up from the other side, raising his voice to compensate for the noise.  
  
Once the chair was almost completely inside, Torunn spoke, "Farewell James. May Heimdall see you well."  
  
The chamber closed. The children backed away from the machine as it began to tremble. The entire room felt like it was experiencing a minor earthquake.  
  
"See you all soon," James added in a momentary spree of hopefulness. Although, he had a feeling that he could no longer be heard. The roaring and shaking were even more violent inside of the chamber. He began to sweat, and it felt hot and crowded inside the tight, yet seemingly endless void of space. It was completely dark. Suddenly his skull felt like it was splitting in two. His whole body felt numb.  
  
"This is our last chance."  
  
The last thing he remembered was screaming in agony as his back left the cushion of the chair.  
  
***  
  
It was unlike anything he could begin to explain.   
  
The searing pain of his brain splitting was overbearing. His eyes were pressed shut and his screams drowned out the incessant whirring noise that seemed to grow louder with each passing second. However, he realized that the sound was no longer coming from the machine. When he could no longer feel the soft cushion beneath him, he panicked.   
  
James forced his eyes open. Everything around him was completely dark. He realized instantly that he was no longer in 2035. The vibrations had not subsided. When he saw a quick flash of white light he slammed his eyelids shut once more, "Please let me be alive," he whispered.   
  
He thought he felt the pressure on his brain subside for a moment but then it picked up again, coupled by more vibrations that were growing stronger and stronger. He wanted to hold himself down but there was nothing to grasp onto.   
  
It seemed to last for ages. James allowed himself to scream again as he rode out the wave of torment. Sparks of stark white lights danced across his closed eyelids. He didn't have to open them to be able to see that the lights were blinding. They were appearing quicker and quicker. His body shook violently within the sea of nothingness. It wasn't until his brain and the weight of his bones seemed to expand outward, leaving his whole body seemingly weightless, that he considered the possibility that he might be dead.   
  
But then it all came crashing back in. In an instant he regained sensation in his limbs, and his head now weighed heavy, the aftershocks feeling as if he had just run into a brick wall. The pain and vibrations had stopped. A hard, flat surface pressed upwards underneath his back. He could still see light, but after another moment he realized that these lights were different. He opened his eyes.   
  
He had kept them pressed so tightly that his vision was now moderately blurry. These lights were warm: incandescent. He blinked a few times before he was able to make out the ceiling of a room. The room was definitely very large, and architecturally, it was unlike anything he had seen before. The warm light cascaded down from an extremely intricate geometric fixture. It danced upon little squares of chrome metal that basked the room in an ethereal glow. If this was heaven, it didn't seem that bad. After taking a few deep breaths, he finally pushed himself to sit up.  
  
He was lying on cold, dark grey stone floors. The walls were the colour of sand, and curved to frame the oddly shaped room. The ceilings rested fairly high off the ground, and were also plain in colour. He noticed a small sitting area to his left. A circular section of the floor covered in thick carpet lay indented an additional step down, and was lined with a playful yellow light. The black chairs and red sectional were cubic in shape. It took him a while to notice that there was even a fire pit. On the right side of the room stretched a kitchenette and bar area with high rising stools and an extensive wine rack.   
  
James was suddenly feeling overwhelmed and out of place. He glanced down to the only object he had brought with him, a special watch from Tony. He was instructed not to lose it in this time period. He didn't think that was possible because right now it was the only thing keeping him grounded. He took note of the time it displayed. The last time he had checked it, he was still in the chair. He gasped. It had only been forty-three seconds. The entire ordeal felt like ages.  
  
He stood up then, remembering what he had to do. _Find someone._

He was glad that he could still manage to walk. At least the pain had subsided, save for a slight headache. He turned to survey the room in greater detail. Then, he finally noticed the windows.  
  
At first he thought them to be a dark wall, but now he could see the individual panes of glass. They stretched from floor to ceiling, and replaced a good third of the room's walls. His steps slowed as he inched forward to the edge. His hand reached out to touch the glass. It was then that James had his first glimpse of New York City.   
  
He gasped. It was night time, so bright lights encapsulated the city. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the wondrous sight.   
  
"Holy shit," he breathed. Keeping his weight on his outstretched arm, he turned his head to the side, "It worked."   
  
He took one more look at the impressive view, then turned around and began walking to the other end of the room to find an elevator. He walked past another set of glass panels that isolated the sitting area. A narrower corridor wound around the back of the common room. Sure enough, at the end, there were two grey doors. James pressed the glowing button beside them and they immediately slid open.   
  
"Now where the heck do I go?" he asked rhetorically. The doors had closed and a list of all of the floors in the tower accompanied the chrome buttons on the inside wall. There had to be at least eighty. A yellow-lit button revealed that he was on guest floor twenty-one. Suddenly, James wished that there were a way to communicate with Tony, to let him know that the machine had sent him exactly where he needed to be.   
  
The main floors were listed in a larger font. He gasped when reading some of the labels: Ground Floor, Hall, R&D, Hulk, Black Widow, Iron Man, Communal Floor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Thor, Communal Pool, Billiards & Theatre, Penthouse & Observation Deck.   
  
His finger hovered over the button next to Captain America. He stopped and pushed the thoughts aside. He found himself pushing the Penthouse before he could think anything more. He reasoned that there was bound to be someone up there, yet he wouldn't draw as much attention to himself as he would on a public ground or communal floor. He pushed away flutters in his stomach with rather positive thoughts. _I can do this._   
  
Quite possibly millions of thoughts were running through his head as the elevator whisked him upwards. _Who would he see? What would he say? Would they believe him?_ His ears popped as he neared the penthouse. He heard a soft ding and the doors opened. The style of architecture was similar to that of the guest floor that he had just been on, yet the ceilings were much higher and the majority of the floor was covered in large windows. He realized that this was not a main elevator, because he was somewhat tucked away behind another set of walls. He took a few more deep breaths and finally took a step out of the elevator. The corridor wound in curves just like before. All of a sudden, as he thought that he was approaching an opening, he could hear muffled voices. His breath hitched and his stomach dropped for a brief moment. He forced himself to keep walking. The corridor ended; the walls replaced with more glass panels. As he passed them, he could see the whole of the floor. This room was six times the size of the last. The lights of the city could be seen behind the back windows. Chairs, couches, and tables covered in empty glasses and bottles were situated everywhere. A closed wine rack decorated the left wall. A large bar could be seen on the right. Then, he saw the people.  
  
His heart began to beat out of his chest. He decided that he was too far back to be seen, as his presence was not acknowledged. They sat around larger tables on which rested more bottles and glasses. _Nice, they're drunk,_ he thought sarcastically. Another thought followed. _This was what people did before the world ended...they lived._ James' reverie was interrupted when a large man with long blond hair laughed loudly. The others mimicked it instantly. His eyes skimmed over each figure.   
  
A shiver ran down his spine when he saw Tony. James clapped a hand over his mouth to keep from making noise, and he leaned forward to get a better view. He scrunched up his face as he observed. Tony’s hair and beard were much shorter, and neatly trimmed. His hairs were a rich chestnut brown as opposed to a silvery grey. He was much younger. The many years of pain and sadness were replaced by lines of laughter, and genuine happiness.   
  
James crouched down and took more steps forward. He would have to approach slowly. He studied the other figures as he moved closer. He became entranced by a gorgeous woman with rich scarlet tresses...the same colour as his own. He gasped again.  
  
"Mom?" he whispered. He took another step and suddenly he could no longer feel his footing. He hadn't noticed the change in elevation right then. The floor dropped about a foot at that point. He was suddenly overcome with fear as he realized that he was about to fall, tainting all plans for a smooth entrance.  
  
He hit the floor, hard.

 


	3. Prestige

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here! It is unforgivable how long I took with this. I actually had like 80% of it written for a while now and I've just been trying to figure out how to end the chapter. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone for your positive comments and support! Your kind words always brighten my day and have motivated me to keep this story going. 
> 
> MUSIC FOR THIS CHAPTER  
> Who's They - Hans Zimmer  
> Snow's Speech - James Newton Howard  
> The Beginning is the End - Smashing Pumpkins  
> Apocalypse Please - Muse

James' shoulder stung where he had landed on it. He lay there motionless and apathetic. He didn't see a point...his cover had been blown.

"What the..." muttered the man with glasses.

Everyone in the room stood and turned to look in James' direction.

"Who's there?" demanded Tony.

 _Oh boy_ , James thought. His heartbeat quickened. From where he lay behind a small sofa, his body remained out of view, however he could hear the footsteps of someone walking toward him.

He heard a faint gasp, and rolled so that he was now looking up at the "new" Tony...or rather, the old one. Tony didn't say anything, but he held his mouth open in utter shock and confusion as he gazed downward at the mysterious boy lying on the floor.

"Tony, what is it?" asked the man with the shorter blond hair, an authoritative tone to his voice.

"It's a...kid."

James finally began to stand, slowly lifting his hands up as he revealed himself to the nine other unfamiliar faces in the room. The billionaire had stepped aside.

Each of them looked as confused and mildly terrified as Tony had been a second ago. James' eyes fell back to the redheaded woman who had distracted him just moments earlier. She was now staring directly at him, brows furrowed, bright red lips slightly pursed.

"Tony, who is that?" asked another taller, slender woman with straight, shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair. James gulped, immediately figuring her to be Pepper.

"I don't know." Tony responded firmly, still holding a look of utter confusion. He turned around to quickly glance at James once more.

"Well how did an unsupervised child make it through security and get to the top floor of your tower?" A dark-skinned man with a narrow face addressed the billionaire like a disappointed parent.

"Rhodes," James whispered, staring blankly at the third person he recognized. He mentally scolded himself a second later for making it audible.

Tony spun around again quickly to face James, "How do you- Jarvis!" he raised his voice and looked up to the ceiling, "Who is this and how did he get up here?"

James recognized the mechanical sounding voice. He thought it was Vision; only the decibels seemed to reverberate from the walls.

_"Sir, I cannot find an identity match in the database. Also, footage does not reveal that this boy entered the tower through any of the ground level entrances."_

Tony's brows furrowed and his mouth hung slightly open. He stared at the boy for a brief moment before finally speaking, "Okay kid, who are you?"

James licked his upper lip as he pondered what to say next. He continued to hold his hands up at shoulder height while he answered, "I-I was sent here for you. I know you, Tony, but you don't know me...not yet."

"How is that possible?" asked the blond haired man again. This time he softened his tone, taking into account how young James was.

Tony laughed slightly, "Well can you tell whoever it was that sent you to maybe contact me directly? What, are you, with a charity or something? Boy Scouts of America?"

James took a deep breath. He realized how ridiculous it had sounded, especially coming from a fourteen year old, "That's gonna be a little tricky..." he paused for another intake before continuing his sentence, "The person who sent me- was you...about twenty years from now."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"I-I sent you…from the future? What are you on kid?" Tony let out a breathless laugh again and slowly shook his head.

James began to panic, "No, you really need to believe me-"

"Kay listen, we'll get someone to escort you back to the main lobby- even give you an autograph. If you wanted one all you had to do was ask, " Tony reached for his phone in his pocket.

"He's telling the truth." Everyone turned to look at the woman with the scarlet red hair, "I know when someone's lying, Stark," her expression didn't soften but James could feel that she pitied him.

Tony spun around again, this time to face her. His untimely laughter was evidence of the alcohol still lingering in his system, "You're not saying you believe him, Red?" He spoke with a degree of sarcasm.

She looked at James then for a brief moment, studying him. "Of course it sounds ridiculous but he's definitely not just some ordinary kid," she responded to Tony with a swift tone, her expression never faltering.

"Do you think he's a threat?" asked the man with glasses, seeming highly anxious.

"Not sure," she responded, arms now crossed.

"Young man, do you come here bearing mal-intentions?" The deep rumbling voice of the big, blond-haired man took James aback. His long locks swished behind him as he took a step forward.

"No. I came to warn you."

"Of what?" The other blond man with broad shoulders now seemed genuinely invested in what James had to say. He looked directly into the boy's eyes.

James couldn't help but feel somewhat close to the man. It seemed that he had to travel through time just to find another person who was wired to think as he did; who treated every situation as a mission. It was then that James realized how truly barred his life had been. He didn't really know how to interact with people; he had only ever been exposed to four of them. He could only imagine what this world was like; this world before Ultron. People grew and interacted with each other and celebrated trivial things. They went out and had drinks with friends. Parents raised their kids in nice little suburban homes and sent them off to school in the morning. He realized that the worst fear of a child living in this time was probably failing a test. He found it difficult to fathom. They were free. But James Rogers' entire life had essentially just been one giant mission; from the moment he was rescued as an infant, to the moment when and if he finally returned through the portal, a boy out of time, unable to function in the new utopia he and Tony had worked so hard to create. It wasn't living. It never would be. But living and surviving were too different things.

"The end of the world." They continued to stare at him like he was absolutely crazy.

After a moment of silence it appeared as if no one knew what to say, so Tony spoke up, "And you expect us to just...believe it." He phrased it as a statement.

"You have no reason not to," James finally lowered his hands, and attempted to smile. The incessant pounding of his heartbeat still thumped within his ears, clouded his thoughts, and agitated his mind.

"Kid, I really think you should leave," uttered a woman with dark brown hair that was pinned tightly into a neat bun. She too, addressed James by looking into his eyes. She was trying to be calm and sincere, but James felt his chest tighten and sink upon hearing the words.

"No...p-please you have to listen to me-"

"Jarvis, tell Happy to get a car ready..." Tony tried to mutter it under his breath but when he realized that the boy heard it he shot him an unapologetic look, "Maria's right, there's nothing here for you, kid."

The phrase repeated itself in his brain.

_There's nothing here for you._

James began to feel nauseous. His throat tightened, shortening his breaths. His heart continued to pound. The sound seemed to grow in volume, drowning out all other noise.

He struggled to keep talking, "Don't...make...me go. You- you need me." He trembled as he pleaded.

"Tony...he doesn't look too hot," the man with glasses knew exactly what was happening.

"Come on, he's just a kid," at first James thought that he had imagined the man with the dirty blond hair and a pair of sunglasses dangling from his shirt saying the words. The room seemed to blur before him, the voices a distant echo reverberating through time.

But the man had indeed taken steps toward James and outstretched his hand. He was thankful for it. He felt like he could no longer support his own weight.

"He's having an attack." The redhead's expression shifted to one of concern. She moved swiftly across the room to where James stood. One second he saw a blur, the next, his mother was standing above him, two hands supporting his shoulders as his knees buckled, assessing his current predicament.

Yes...she was his mother. He was sure of it.

He could hear muffled voices conversing in the background.

"Cap, it's too risky."

"No, we're not doin' this Tony," the second voice belonged to the man with the shorter blond hair again. James could make out his chiseled features now moving toward him as well.

He knew they were discussing what to do with him. He could only bring himself to focus on the image of the woman in front of him. Completely composed, she knew exactly what to do. She kept a straight face. However, her brows and facial muscles were now relaxed, her lips slightly parted.

"What's your name?" the man who had just reached out to James a moment ago now held his hand, and turned back to address him. He raised his chin, motioning for James to say something. The man's sunglasses unhooked from his collar and hit the floor by James's feet.

He hadn't remembered him getting that close. But then, everything was shifting in and out of focus.

He didn't feel like he could formulate any coherent response. He stumbled over his words, "J-James. James Ro-"

Then the blurs of red and bright lights quickly faded to black.

***

 _There's no place for you here._  
  
Incoherent images flooded his brain. His mind was searching, for something.

He was back in the bio dome. The blistering afternoon sun filtered through the lush trees. He could hear the chirps of exotic birds and the screeching of monkeys leaping from branches high above the ground. _Home._

He heard a nearby rustling in the foliage, "Azari?" he asked, "Pym, that you?"

The figure emerged. Vision hovered a few feet above the ground, his yellow cape floating behind him.

"Am-am I home?" James asked.

Vision didn't say a word. He merely assessed James like he was surprised to see the boy standing there.

"Vision," he demanded, his tone slightly more stern, "Where are my siblings? Where's Tony?"

Vision's expression turned solemn. He spoke softly, _"James, I am afraid there is nothing left. Ultron has destroyed everything. There is nothing here for you."_

He licked his lips and slowly shook his head in denial. "No, that-that's not possible. I-I came back."

_"Mr. Stark and the children fought to defend the portal until the last moment...when Ultron and his drones came for them."_

"That's why I was sent back." James' breathing hitched and his heart sunk. He stumbled backward, almost falling to his knees.

A speck of white fluttered downward, landing on James' arm. He thought it to be debris. Then he noticed more of them, floating down from the sky. His eyes followed the flakes upwards. There was no sky. Day had shifted to night, and there was a giant gaping hole where the sky used to be.

 _"It is called snow,"_ Vision explained.

"I've never seen it before."

Vision landed softly on the ground. He took a few more steps forward. _"I suppose it can be considered a small solace, to witness this brief miracle as the last two beings on earth."_  
  
James felt sick to his stomach, "This isn't happening," the words came out as a whisper.

 _"I am sorry, James."_ Vision slowly walked past the boy, barely acknowledging him. James felt inclined to follow.

They walked for a short while in silence. At many instances, James felt compelled to say something, anything to break the unbearable quiet, but he could not bring himself to speak.

Finally, Vision paused, and stared out ahead of him. Once James approached from behind, he could see why Vision was troubled.

They stood on a hill, overlooking the fountain and main plaza of the dome. It all lay in ruin. The bungalows and training ground were a blackened mess of debris, and the Avengers monument laid completely destroyed. The trees surrounding the clearing were blown apart as well. James hunched over, his breathing becoming rabid, clutching his chest in utter shock. He wanted to cry.

_"I too, tried to defend this sanctuary until the very end. Being part artificial intelligence myself, Ultron only left me alive to torture me with my failure- my punishment for empathizing with humans…This place was my home too, James."_

James flung himself down the hill, shouting out for his siblings as he ran, "Torunn! Azari! Pym!" He ran past what remained of the bungalows, trying to search for at least the remnants of his family. He glanced about frantically, not really sure what he was looking for anymore. Finally, the tears started flowing as the realization hit.

He walked toward the fountain, gazing at the ruined headstones. "Tony?" he attempted in a quiet sob. He dropped to his knees in the centre, with no desire to stand up again.

 _"I would...attempt to offer some advice regarding our next actions, but I see no purpose."_ Vision had flown down to hover a few feet behind James.

Suddenly, James could hear the sound of someone's footsteps in the rubble, and sense movement from his peripheral. He looked up, and sure enough he could see a figure walking toward them. He noticed the fiery red hair before any other feature.

He felt a pang of relief because he and Vision were not alone after all. As she got closer, James could confirm that it was the woman with the red hair that he had met in the tower. At first he was confused. Then he realized that she had been holding him when he was rendered unconscious. _Maybe she was sent back with me_ , he pondered.

"Vision I saw her in the past, that's my mother!" He whispered with excitement and intrigue as he rose to his feet. As she trudged closer he took note of the black cat suit she wore. It was covered in dust and debris. Guns sat in their holsters pinned to her thighs. The suit was adorned with a belt that featured a bright red buckle. Her hair was disheveled, and she bore a cut across her forehead. He also noticed red on one of her arms. She carried a metal shard in that hand, her skin drenched in blood.

"Mom!" James yelled, jogging towards her, "It's me, James! I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself back there. I'm just...so glad to see you."

"I couldn't defeat Ultron." She spoke the words softly and without connotation. She acknowledged James' presence but she seemed almost entranced. She looked right through her son.

Another tear fell from James' cheek.

"The battle's over." She reached up to caress James's cheek, then turned to her right, as if compelled to walk in that direction.

James stood still, utterly stunned. "Vision...the shard...this is just like the story." The android didn't offer any explanation, so James began to follow her.

She continued walking at the same unnaturally slow pace; each step perfectly timed. _Something's definitely not right_ , James thought. His heart was pounding again.

She finally stopped in front of another pile of rubble, and knelt down onto her hands and knees. Her expression changed to one of deep sadness.

As James approached, the body lying atop of the rubble took form. He gasped when he got close enough to see it: blond hair and navy blue combat suit covered in dust. The dirt and cuts on his face did not serve to make him any less recognizable. His impeccably chiseled features and large frame were enough for James to recognize him as the man who had defended him in front of Tony. His heart sunk when he saw the even larger metal shard that was embedded in his chest. The torso of his blue uniform took on a dark plum colour, as it was stained thick with blood. James cupped his hand over his mouth and his breaths quickened again. Then he noticed the other jagged shards of metal lying next to the body, that were painted red, white and blue.

"Is that?" James breathed. But she didn't answer him. _Captain America.  
_  
His mother... _the Black Widow_ , began caressing the shoulder and forehead of Captain America's corpse. Her eyes rimmed with tears, and her ethereal features dropping in utter despair, she leaned further down and lightly touched the side of his face, and then kissed him lovingly on the lips.

Shocked beyond sanity and thoroughly confused, James found himself oddly at peace among his parents. One was dead and the other was clearly not of right mind but if this was the end of the world, he didn't know what to expect. He obviously had to come to terms with it.

His eyes clouded with images again.

He still felt the rubble beneath his feet, but his mind was absent from the physical space. He saw darkness, and then he saw Tony- his Tony, with his grey hair and wrinkled face.

"Convince me." he spoke in a mildly serious tone, looking James straight in the eyes.

Then he shifted. He was young Tony again, like he had been in 2015. James tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brows. He was mildly terrified, but mostly still confused.

Tony clasped his hands to James' shoulders, using the boy as support. He began to quake, and sweat in desperation. Tears clouded his eyes and his features tensed with fear. He looked James dead in the eyes.

"Convince me!"

More incoherent sounds and images blurred together until he felt the weight of them hit in his head all at once.

His eyes snapped open, and he squirmed beneath the sheets, half sitting up. He felt warm and damp with sweat. The room was basked in a golden glow, coloured by morning sunlight.

"You're okay," a husky voice spoke calmly.

Then he felt a hand on his chest. He stopped squirming.

"You're okay." The hand retracted to allow him to sit up.

He turned his head to the right to see the red-haired woman sitting on a chair next to his bed. _A bed._ _How did he get-_

"We brought you to a guest room on the communal floor after you blacked out," she smiled softly, "You had a severe panic attack...and when you lost consciousness, Tony dropped his stupid charade and insisted that you would spend the night- even got Doctor Banner to assess your condition. He felt bad," she let out a small chuckle, "I think Tony kinda has a soft spot for you now. No one would believe it, but the genius billionaire also suffers from anxiety attacks. Seems like both of you have been through a lot."

He didn't say anything at first. He was trying to process the fact that he was no longer dreaming. He was still in 2015, which still felt a lot like a dream, if he was being completely honest with himself.

"You have no idea," James grumbled out of morning grogginess as he attempted to stretch his muscles.

The woman- his mother, still smiled, her features gentle. Then she stood up from her seat and continued talking, "Our A.I. alerted us when you began to stir. He said it would be best if the last person that you saw when you blacked out was also the first person you would see upon waking. Banner says you're completely fine- physically."

James hooked his legs over the side of the bed. They hadn't changed him out of his clothes. Banner, he thought. The Hulk was also here. _He really was with the Avengers._

"You can take it easy," she nodded her head toward the door whilst keeping her eyes on the boy. Her chin-length scarlet curls bobbed with her. She could tell that he was expecting to be verbally harassed again, so she raised her eyebrow and smirked, "They've got breakfast for you out there."

James pushed the sheets aside and stood up.

"I'm Natasha, by the way." She held out her hand awkwardly. His heart fluttered upon hearing his mother's name. _Natasha._ He looked up to meet her face, matching her quirky smile with his own, incredibly awkward one. He shook her hand.

"James."

***

He followed Natasha into the communal kitchen. The walls were light in colour, giving the room a clean, fresh appeal. Steel cupboards and appliances were clustered in the centre. Tables and chairs were stationed closer to the windows. The ceilings rested high, giving the room a weightless appeal. Morning light filtered through the large glass windows and onto the white marble floors. The view of New York looked just as impressive in the daytime.

"Ah, look what the cat dragged in," the man who had held his hand the night before grinned jokingly at his own remark. His voice echoed, audibly revealing the sheer enormity of the room and of the whole damn tower. James was incredibly impressed by it.

"Be nice, Clint," Natasha replied dryly.

A revelation hit James. He recalled Vision mentioning the name Clint Barton to Tony the day before, or rather, twenty years from today. He remembered seeing pictures, and then finally catching a glimpse of Tony's hidden Iron Avengers. Clint Barton, _the Archer._  
  
"I'm just playin'," he continued to smile and shook his head slightly. Then he jerked his chin upwards and addressed James, "Morning, kid."

James just smiled back awkwardly, still too nervous to present himself in front of the Avengers after the events of the previous night. They probably thought that he was absolutely insane. Not to mention he had grown up hearing stories about these individuals, and now he was actually meeting them in person.

Clint turned his attention back to his coffee mug and the tablet that he had been reading.

"Well anyways," Natasha addressed the five other people sitting at the large white table. She sashayed past the boy whilst pointing in their direction, "James that's Thor, Jane, Maria, Bruce, and you already seem to know Colonel Rhodes," she playfully smirked when recalling his comment from the night before.

"I told you, everybody knows War Machine," Rhodey spoke up without looking away from his magazine. Somehow James just knew he was smirking on the inside.

Natasha let out a deep short chuckle.

They had each glanced up from their breakfasts to quietly acknowledge their guest. James found himself paying particular attention to Thor...Torunn's dad; the Asgardian Prince. They shared the same long blond hair and bright blue eyes, that lit up as he laughed at something that Jane had just whispered to him. James couldn't help but smile.

"Hi" Maria grinned awkwardly, breaking the silence.

"Hi," James smiled back, scratching the back of his neck with his hand. They were all looking at him again.

"Uh, James, come sit. What would you like for breakfast?" Jane motioned for James to take the seat in front of her and Thor.

James pulled the chair out and sat down, trying to maintain eye contact with her, "Um, I'm not picky."

"Surely a strong young man like you is met with a ferocious appetite?" Thor chuckled, placing his arm around Jane's shoulders. The god had intended for his comment to make James feel more comfortable. His genuine smile was infectious and James felt himself mirroring it.

He took note of the scraps left on Jane and Doctor Banner's dishes, "Okay...I guess I wouldn't mind some eggs and bacon."

"Natasha placed a hand on James' chair from behind, "Lucky for you, we just made a fresh batch." She padded over to the counter to prepare a plate for him.

"That smells amazing who cooked this morning?" Tony walked into the room.

"Mostly Clint," Natasha mumbled from the counter as she used a spatula to slide two eggs onto a large plate.

"Clint you're cooking breakfast from now on," Tony pointed to the archer who kept his eyes glued to his tablet but raised his arm to give Tony a sarcastic thumbs up.

"Where's Pepper?" asked Bruce.

"She left early with Happy. Company stuff. She'll be back," he turned back to Natasha, "How's our guest?"

"Ask him yourself," Natasha raised an eyebrow as she sauntered past Tony. His gaze followed as she placed the plate down on the table in front of the boy. The glorious smell of hot food filtered through his nose. Finally realizing how hungry he actually was, James took a large bite of bacon before turning in his chair to face Tony.

"How you feeling, kid?" Tony's tone was suddenly very serious.

"Better," James replied as he finished chewing.

"Seems like you had quite the attack last night...what do you say we start over?"

He was beginning to sound like the Tony he knew.

"Promise you'll start taking me seriously?" James raised his eyebrows as he brought his fork to his lips to taste the eggs.

"Well, like Nat said, you're definitely not some ordinary kid...otherwise you wouldn't be here."

 _You have no idea_ , James thought.

"Where the hell is Steve?" Natasha asked, expecting Tony to answer.

"How should I know? Probably still sleeping," Tony flung his arms out to the side, then retracted them and made his way over to the counter to grab some breakfast.

"Uh, Steve doesn't sleep in," said Bruce.

Without word, Natasha slipped past Tony and made her way around to the elevators.

***

The elevator dinged when she reached Steve's floor. The doors opened, meaning that he hadn't locked it down. She stepped out into the foyer. There was no sign of Steve in the main living or kitchen areas. The state of the kitchen revealed that he probably hadn't eaten there this morning. It was clean and tidy.

With some hesitation, she decided to see if he was still in his bedroom. Before she could think about knocking, she caught sight of the open door. Inside, his bed remained unmade and some of his clothes were scattered on the floor.

"Jarvis," she finally thought to ask, staring blankly at his disheveled sheets, "Where is Captain Rogers?"

"Miss Romanoff, Captain Rogers is currently in the gym. He has been down there since six twenty-three a.m. this morning," the A.I. replied.

She smirked as she turned to walk back out to the elevator. How typical of him.

The metal doors slid apart revealing the marble back splash and chrome accents of the elevator car. She sauntered inside and pressed the button for the gym.

When Natasha stepped out onto the hardwood floors she could hear the muffled sounds of Steve throwing punches on some sand bags. She rounded the corner into the large open space. To the right of the sparring ring, stood Steve, biceps flexed, grey sweatpants, and a white, sweat-soaked tank.

"Morning, soldier," she raised an eyebrow and a corner of her mouth as he turned at the sound of her voice, revealing his very chiseled chest.

He didn't speak. Instead he turned back to his task at hand. As his fist made contact with the bag he finally addressed her, "Couldn't sleep," he uttered between grunts.

"You missed breakfast."

He paused again and reached for the chain to stop the bag from swaying. He turned to face her, "I'm sorry, I just...I shouldn't be here. Buck's still out there."

"You feel guilty...for taking a momentary lapse," she raised her chin and folded her arms across her chest. Her deadpan expression faltered, "Steve-"

He began unravelling the gauze that he had wrapped around his fingers, "I know we only came home because Sam needed to take care of family stuff but...I guess the worry is keeping me up because I can't really do anything right now. I'm powerless until Sam and I can get back out there."

"He knows how to survive, Steve. He's been doing it his whole life. You can take a day." She handed him his hoodie, lightly brushing her fingers against his as he accepted it.

He moved closer to her and glanced up at her green eyes. They seemed to radiate her words in visual form. It was genuine and sincere, which Natasha rarely revealed to anyone. Since the fiasco in DC he had seen more of that side of her; the side that he much preferred: the real, bare, Natasha. And he had seen it last night as well. When the mysterious boy appeared before them she had defended him, not because she necessarily believed him, but because she immediately empathized with a child who looked like he had been traumatized a great deal. She took it upon herself to tell him what he deserved to hear.

She was doing it again now. She was taking care of him, trying to relieve him of all of the guilt and blame that he had placed on himself because of what had happened to Bucky.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. The soft, feathery touch of her fingers on his skin soothed his mind.

"How's the kid? He looked deep into her eyes, assuring her that he cared about the problem at hand.

Natasha let out a light breath and curved her lips up, smiling ever so slightly. She kept her gaze fixated on the hand on his arm, "He's...fine. His vitals were all normal when he woke up." She looked up to meet his eyes, "Whatever was troubling him last night it's, it's still there but, he's had time to rationalize it in his mind."

"Still no idea where he came from?" He mirrored her grin.

"I wasn't going to press him," she smiled even brighter, and nudged her head up towards the ceiling, "He's up there eating with the rest of the team."

She finally dropped her arm. Steve immediately felt the warmth fade from the lack of contact. He reached up to lightly grasp one of the red strands that fell in front of her face.

"You took care of him...I owe him an apology."

"Steve we were all-" she fluttered her eyelids closed for a brief second, trying to protest, and then she understood what he really meant, "You're saying you believe him?"

She leaned in, brows creased. He let the red curl slip through his fingers and looked up to address her again, "Why else would he be so worked up? Whoever he is, he's been through too much all at once and it's hitting him hard. He needs someone to support him right now."

"Maybe he's an orphan."

"Jarvis couldn't find an identity match. I think it's a little more complicated than that. Ever since the serum, I've learned that there's no such thing as normalcy in this world."

***

James gulped down the last bit of egg hanging off of his fork.

"So where are you from?" Maria asked, trying to discover more about their mysterious guest.

James had to think. He couldn't very well say Arctic Circle until they were convinced that he had travelled here from the future. Few countries' borders actually extended that far north.

"Uh, Canada?"

"Interesting," Clint pursed his lips and slowly nodded his head.

"How did you end up in New York?" Jane asked.

James sighed. _Gonna have to try again at some point_ , "The technology used to transport me here...it didn't just send me to a different time, it could move through space as well."

Jane rested her chin on her palm, leaning over her elbow on the tabletop. She suddenly seemed very enthralled.

"It was derived of cosmic radiation from something called a...bifrost? And energy from an object known as the tesseract, sent to Midgard a thousand years ago and apprehended in 2012 by someone named...Loki. It was one of the stories To-"

They all blinked in disbelief. James then realized that most of what Tony had told him had potentially at one point been classified knowledge. He let out a tiny, shaky breath and swallowed hard.

Thor furrowed his brows, taken aback by the young Midgardian who seemed to know quite a bit about his realm.

"You're saying that someone used Asgardian science and the energy of an infinity stone to send you here?"  
Bruce gestured with his hand as he spoke, sounding both amazed and skeptical.

Jane gasped.

"Not just someone. It was-" James started.

"That information is strictly off the books, kid...Who are you, really?" Maria addressed him with a serious look in her eyes, staring intently at the boy.

"It is quite possible that this boy is not of this realm." Thor butted in.

Tony folded his arms across his chest lightly, "Highly probable considering the fact that Jarvis couldn't find a match for him in the database."

"I'm not," James stammered, shaking his head.

Maria and Thor had stood up, intrigued. Tony began taking small steps towards James, "It's okay," he held out a hand, nodding slightly, "We'll help you."

 _You can't help me_ , James thought, _I need to help you._

"Who are you?" asked Bruce, scrunching his brows.

He took a deep breath, "I'm- I'm James Rogers!"

Just then, Natasha and Steve had walked into the room, catching the end of James' sentence. They froze. Their hardened, yet stunned expressions matched those of their fellow Avengers at the table.

 


	4. Phosphorescence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! You read correctly- an update!
> 
> Once again, I want to thank everyone who has stuck with this story despite my long hiatus. Your reviews and tumblr messages always make me so happy. And I love hearing everyone's take on my work. I read each and every comment that you guys leave for me! 
> 
> Sorry that this took so long. I got stuck with a bit of writer's block trying to finish up this chapter and then things got kinda rough for my family these past couple weeks. But everything pulled through and now I have ideas for chapter 5 as well! Enjoy!
> 
> ***
> 
> Also, I will no longer be posting song titles with each chapter. I've compiled a complete fanmix for this story and you can listen/download it here: http://kryptoniancape.tumblr.com/post/124110161837

He stared up into the burning fluorescence, the blinding white light pulling him into an abyss of Meta physicality. It still felt so surreal to him; being in a complete other time, the universe's ultimate pawn in its plan to regenerate.

Ultron was a weed that had slipped through the cracks. In another life, the human race was not reduced to depending upon the triumphs of one single person to endure. In his whole life, James had never adhered the luxury of making his own choices. In this moment, as Jarvis analyzed him like another piece of paraphernalia, he realized that eradicating the _mechanical infection_ had been a mission bestowed upon him as well. James blinked uncomfortably, shifting his eyes away from the light.

He was lying on a chair in Tony's lab. The room appeared just as large as any of the other floors he'd skimmed of the tower. Sunlight streaked through glass panels that lined the entire floor and marked off various sections of equipment. As they had guided him through it all he was able to catch glimpses of Tony's current projects, scientific journeys and breakthroughs that he had no doubt shared with the children throughout the years as they had grown up. James could remember a few of the stories.

 _This is his legacy_ , James had thought. The billionaire had slowly guided him into a separate room within the lab, closed off and lit only by artificial light. He was currently situated in a fairly open space, with the Avengers gathered around him.

"In a minute, Jarvis will know...if he..." Tony glanced at the floor, still processing what they had just learned.

"I don't have any living family left," Steve spoke up, staring right through the billionaire, arms lightly folded across his chest, "It's gotta be a coincidence."

"It's a common last name," Clint shrugged his shoulders, "He could be anybody."

"You're forgetting the part where he mentioned that he was from 2035," uttered Bruce, "If he really did come here from the future, he's not just anybody." He subtly made audible what they were all thinking.

A moment of silence passed as the Avengers glanced around the room at each other awkwardly, waiting for someone else to speak up.

"Time and space are relative," Jane swallowed and her tongue grazed her bottom lip, "The bifrost allows someone to travel between worlds that are light years apart within an instant. It moves through time, creating a shortcut between otherwise unfathomable distances. When you want to get from point A to point B, the bridge, er, portal bends space. Suddenly time is no longer an obstacle. If someone could harness its technology, well..."

"And supposedly that person is...me." Tony looked to the boy again, eyes filled with disbelief.

"One could adjust the amount of time that the portal allows them to pass through- accessing virtually any point along the spectrum." Bruce finished Jane's sentence, eyes widening. He folded his arms over his torso."

"Time travel." Jane stared blankly.

"That still leaves the why." Tony added after another brief moment of silence.

Steve took a step forward towards the chair, "You mentioned yesterday that you came here specifically to stop something from happening. Something that leads to the end of the world?"

James strained to address Steve from his fixed position, "Yes...that's what I've tried to tell you," he swallowed hard, keeping his eyes focused to the ceiling, "One year from now, he'll begin transforming North America into his own personal playground- bit by bit, slowly humans become subjugated to his rule...I've never seen New York City. It stopped existing after he made it his capitol. He consumed it...and twenty years after that- the rest of the world."

"Who's... _he_?" asked Maria, her features tense.

"Tell me Tony," James rolled his head to the side to address the Iron Man, "How far have you gotten with Ultron?"

Tony's mouth hung open.

"What's he talking about?" Rhodey inched closer to Tony, a tone of accusation in his voice.

"The A.I Tony's been working on," stunned, Bruce began slowly shaking his head, "But we're not even close to an interface."

"You succeed." James sat up then, "Soon."

"You're saying that one of Tony's science projects gets smart enough to take over the world?" Clint asked with a degree of skepticism, "I mean Dum-E can't even make coffee," he snickered under his breath and Tony glared at him in response to his snide remark.

James was frankly annoyed with how difficult people of this era could be. He sighed, looking straight toward Tony, "Do you want to tell them or should I?"

Tony remained silent, no doubt curious to see what James actually knew, so the boy continued, "Ultron was the next step up from Jarvis; a global peacekeeping initiative. But he got smart enough to realize that humanity's fickle nature would inevitably bring about its downfall. He saw only one solution."

"To start over...regenerate." Natasha's stone-cold features revealed that she understood completely.

Bruce turned his head to make eye contact with Tony, lips pressed into a thin, flat frown.

"Don't," Tony closed his eyes and pinched the skin between his eyebrows as he slowly walked around the chair, something that James realized he often did when unsure of himself. His hand slid down to his chin, then he flicked it outward, index finger extended, "Bruce," he scolded. He averted everyone's eyes to the tempered man.

"I warned you before we began, Tony...we can't make Ultron." Bruce swallowed.

"And what about the practicalities? Bruce, you were there when we had this discussion. We'll take this information and we'll start from scratch, we'll make him better! There's time to salvage what we have." His voice abruptly raised an octave as he addressed Bruce and the others to plead his flimsy case.

Steve's features contorted in disgust. He crossed his arms across his broad chest and took two powerful strides toward the billionaire, "Did you not hear what he said? Do you understand the real gravity of the situation here? Whatever it is that you're trying to 'create,' this kid didn't have a future because of it. We're not salvaging anything."

"Not all of us can be super soldiers, Rogers," retorted the Iron Man as he leaned toward Steve. Then, the tension embedded within his features relaxed and he sighed, speaking softly, "When I...when I went through that wormhole...the suit died...Jarvis was gone...and I realized in that moment that I would die a mortal death, as a mortal man. As flesh and blood, I'm nothing. My tech is what makes me. So far it hasn't failed the team. But I caught a glimpse of what that potential failure could look like. That vulnerability, being open to the vast jaws of space...the only way to truly protect our people from it is to be one step ahead. What if, the next time aliens rolled up to the club, _and they will_ \- they couldn't get past the bouncers?"

"I can't let you go through with this. We've received a clear message telling us not to bring this thing to life." The soldier finally let his arms down but his expression didn't change.

James had laid back down, but he craned his neck to look at Tony again, "You know the truth, but why do you think that I'm still here? _Because you haven't changed your mind yet._ In any reality, Ultron is the end of us." He let his head fall back flat onto the cushion.

"Stark," Maria spat out his name like venom. However, she looked emotionally troubled by his foolishness.

"Tony you don't want the blood on your hands. The guilt...it consumes you. You're not prepared for it." The boy rolled his head from side to side on the pillow to hide the tear that had escaped his eye socket. _He has no idea how much this will cripple him._

Tony remained silent.

"Is Ultron- the reason that your parents are dead...?" Rhodey gulped, glancing back and forth between James and the billionaire. He was on the verge of putting the pieces together.

"You could say that they weren't just my parents. They were greatly revered for the work that they did to protect society. It was their duty to be symbols for more people than just me. Ultron wanted to destroy all of that." James waited until Steve had met his eyes. His voice cracked up as he finally said what he had wanted to say since he had learned the truth. _Time fracture be damned._ "Hi, dad."

Jane gasped loudly. No one else knew what to say.

Finally, Clint broke the silence, "Wait," he giggled nervously, " _Dad_?" He stopped chuckling when he realized that the boy was dead serious.

"Now you know, why he sent _me_ ," James spoke softly with a slight frown, " _This_ was the reason."

Steve finally took a step toward the boy.

James sat up, sliding his feet over the edge of the chair so that he could face his father.

The soldier seemed to be staring right through him.

"Sorry, I know this is...shocking. It's a lot to take in. Believe me," James laughed nervously, "I felt the same way when I learned that I had been living in a bio dome my whole life and that suddenly time travel was possible."

Steve finally smiled a gentle smile, baby blue eyes wide and glistening, "I know the feeling- sleeping for seventy years and all...I'm sure your Tony has told you stories."

James mimicked his soft grin; "We would ask him to tell us stories of our parents almost every night before bedtime. I...probably shouldn't say too much. Tony wanted me to keep it to a minimum, stay focused on the mission. Time travel is, a very fragile phenomenon."

Natasha curved her lips upward into a smirk, "He's definitely your son Steve."

James wondered for a brief moment why Steve hadn't immediately pressed him to know who his mother was. _He respects my mission_ , he realized. James was too weary to mention it himself. He worried about whether or not he had already revealed too much.

Steve acknowledged Natasha's comment by mirroring her playful smirk, then he turned back to James, "Look James, I don't know how well we knew each other...or if we knew each other at all, but I promise that we're going to fix this."

For the first time in a long while, James finally felt safe, and at ease. "I never got to know you," he swallowed, "Or my mom. Tony was the only one who survived because Ultron couldn't kill his creator. And Bruce went into hiding because the Hulk can't be destroyed." He decided to refrain from mentioning the reason for future Thor's return to Asgard. "If we fix this and we do it right, perhaps in another universe we can get to know each other better."

Steve smiled again and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, "I'm looking forward to it."

"You said, _we_ ," Maria asked, "Were there more of you?"

"Y-yes. There were other children that Tony rescued. We're not biologically related though. We all had different parents. There's Azari, Pym; his real name's Henry but we call him Pym, and Torunn. She's-" His eyes widened. He realized then that he had said too much.

Thor gulped and his features hardened. He directed his gaze to James. " _My_ Torunn?"

"Wait, _what_?" Jane spun around to face her Asgardian boyfriend, utterly confused and mildly concerned.

Thor relaxed and took hold of both of Jane's hands in his, and looked into her eyes, "Jane, I intended to tell you this eventually, I was unsure of how and when I should bring it up," he swallowed again, "I have a daughter."

Jane allowed her eyelids to flutter a few times before they widened in shock. She was taken aback but there was a softness to her voice, "A-a daughter?"

"A while before I met you, there had been...a brief instance with Lady Sif. I no longer have feelings for her, Jane, only you. But through all of the recent chaos in the nine realms, I never found the right time to tell you. There are servants who look after her on Asgard when she is not with her mother. But ever since I had moved in with you, I had been considering bringing her to Midgard...to introduce her to you." He kept his gaze locked on her deep, brown eyes.

"Thor, this is...wow! I'd love to meet her." Jane let go of his hands and placed hers around his neck in a deep embrace.

Thor smiled softly against the crook of her neck and gently folded both of his arms along her back, reciprocating the hug. He lightly kissed the top of her head, "I give you my word Jane, when you are ready, as soon as this is all over I will bring Torunn here to meet you," he broke their embrace so that he could gaze upon her again, "You can teach her all about the stars."

Jane's face lit up again, and she couldn't help but emulate the same goofy grin he wore. He knew exactly how to charm her. She curled up on her toes to give him a peck on the lips.

Tony broke the awkward moment of silence by pretending to clear his throat. His eyes darted quickly around the room as he outstretched one of his palms "Anyone else have any secrets they'd like to share?"

"Hopefully not," Clint replied while staring at the floor.

James chuckled, "I'm not at liberty to continue spewing details about the future- time paradox and all."

Just then, a ringing could be heard throughout the lab. Tony flinched, and then moved over to the monitor. "It's the results of the DNA scan." He began loading the data. He tapped and slid his fingertips across the clear, smooth glass. After he had taken a minute to read it, his jaw dropped, "Uh, guys, you might wanna take a look at this."

Before anyone could move, Jarvis' pristine voice began to echo throughout the lab, _"There is a match in the databanks. Young James is in fact, the biological son of Steve Rogers, and appears to be approximately fourteen years of age."_

"It's all true then," Maria's lips parted slightly in awe.

Jarvis continued, _"However, I have also uncovered a match for the boy's mother. The DNA belongs to, Miss Romanoff, Sir."_

Natasha felt every muscle in her body freeze in place. Her brows creased above the bridge of her nose.

Once again, a look of utter shock danced its way across the visage of everyone in the lab. James looked at Natasha and smiled sheepishly.

" _No_ way," Clint had finally looked up from the floor but covered his mouth with his palm. He knew Natasha would kill him if he laughed.

"Oh this just keeps getting better and better." Tony muttered.

Natasha finally let out the breath that she had been holding. Her lips parted slightly. She glanced at Steve, and then to the boy. She didn't know how to respond.

"Natasha," Steve whispered.

"No," she spoke softly, her eyes glued to James' face, "It's not possible...I'm not-"

"Just give her a minute," Clint added.

She jerked her head in Clint's direction, "No, Clinton, I don't need a minute. You know that this isn't possible. You know that I'm sterile!"

It was no secret to any of the Avengers, they had all read her file; the Russian assassin who's handlers intended to strip her of everything that she was...or could be. However, the mutual awareness hadn't snuffed the incredible awkwardness that Natasha felt as soon as the words had escaped her lips.

"So Jarvis made a mistake," Steve murmured, arms crossed, eyes deep in contemplation.

Tony raised his finger, about to rebuttal Steve's deduction but then remained quiet because he realized that they had no other evidence that suggested otherwise, _apart from the kid's fiery red hair,_ he thought.

Natasha turned to James, features still hard, "I'm sorry." She shifted on her feet, taking a few steps toward the exit of the room, "I'm not your mother."

James' heart sunk. For a moment he thought that maybe this woman; this Natasha, couldn't be the right one. _Then_ he remembered the stories that Tony had told him.

"There...was a woman...a doctor who specialized in bio-organics. Tony said he met her in Seoul."

"Doctor Cho," Bruce reaffirmed.

James nodded, "Not long from now, she makes a huge leap with her research; something about the ability to regrow and recreate human tissues. When the time finally came, she needed a human test subject. The Black Widow volunteered...and that's how she was able to have children again."

Natasha stopped and turned around again. Features still tense with feelings of shock and confusion. Once more, she slightly parted her lips, and stared at James in awe, taking in his red hair and familiar features. James couldn't tell if she was happy or upset. She let out a shaky breath.

"Are you sure?" she asked the boy. If she had noticed the stray tear that had inched its way down from her eye socket, she gave no indication.

"It's highly likely," Tony responded, "Given what Helen can do. What he's talking about-" he pointed to James, "That's her endgame."

Natasha continued to keep her eyes locked on James, utterly stunned that this boy could be her flesh and blood.

"Look, this is great and all," Rhodey chimed in, "But did Tony give you any indication of what our game plan is? We can prevent him from creating this thing, but how do we know that nobody else possesses, or _will_ possess this technology?"

"I guess that's the whole point of forging a new universe. Having all the answers...it's cheating." Steve replied, finally glancing up.

Maria turned to Steve, "But if we don't know what it is that we're supposed to do, _this-_ " she motioned with her hands, "Could all be for nothing."

"Then we'll just have to trust our instincts," the soldier finally uncrossed his arms, and stepped forward, adjusting his sloppy posture.

"I don't have anything with me that would be of any use to us...except maybe this," he fumbled with his right wrist, "...watch that Tony gave me before he sent me through. He didn't explain why so I figured that it was just so that I could keep track of time. But knowing him, it might be something more. After all, it does kind of resemble my sh-"

Bright lights emerged from the tiny gadget. James' holographic shield projected itself from his wrist.

"...Shield."

Rhodey nodded his head repeatedly as he stared into the captivating luminance, "Alright- yeah, I think...I think I believe it now."

"Holy shit," whispered Clint.

"Wow," James commented to himself sarcastically, "So much for anonymity, Tony."

"What is this thing?" Maria asked, eyes wide in amazement.

"It's uh, it's my shield."

Everyone looked to Steve, who leaned forward in intrigue.

"Tony mirrored it after my fathers'...except this one is a bit of an upgrade: extremely lightweight, yet capable of severing any opposing force in two." He waved it around slightly.

"It's incredible!" Jane exclaimed, exasperated by the mere sight of the advanced tech.

"This looks like a compacted version, the wrist piece is a lot smaller than the original. Maybe Tony was working on a newer model..."

"Or it's something else entirely," Bruce gazed at the gadget intently, his fist resting at his chin. He walked over to the table to catch a closer glimpse of it, "Maybe this is Tony's way of communicating with us."

James held his arm up to his face. His eyes could be seen focusing intently through the sheer holographic blanket of light. He noticed then that the buttons along the side differed from the consistent placement that never faltered in each new upgrade that Tony had created for him. _What the hell is this?_ He thought to himself. He tilted his chin back up to address the Avengers, "Right before I came here, as he was explaining Project: Regenerate to us, Tony went on and on about the fragility of time travel, and how ambiguity would be our first line of defense against an anomaly. This isn't for you...it's meant to show me something." James paused. He held down what was normally the emergency button on his wristband.

The A.I. roared to life, only it wasn't Jarvis. _"Good day, sir. How may I assist you?"_

The boy's eyes stretched even further, " _Jocasta?_ " he exclaimed with a manner of surprise. Deep down, James was relieved to hear a familiar friend, "It's so good to hear your voice!"

Tony opened his mouth, about to comment, but James answered his question before he could ask it, "You created Jocasta to be the main A.I. powering our facility."

"And what happened to Jarvis?" Tony asked, mildly concerned.

_"The answer to that question, neither I nor Mister James is at liberty to share, Sir."_

James smiled.

"I see he took on your sarcastic personality," Clint added.

"Mr. Stark programmed me with my own distinct database in preparation for Project: Regenerate, so that upon arrival in the past, I would not require a network to be of use."

"He was always going to send me," James' eyes widened and he looked down at the shield again, the wheels in his head finally clicking. He observed how perfectly the wristband seemed to fit.

_"Precisely. He had prepared gadgets for the other children as well, but deep down he always reconciled that it would be you, James. Your resolve is strong."_

"What do you have in your database about Helen Cho's experiments involving me and tissue regrowth?" Natasha stared directly at the mass of light and colour.

_"In the year 2018, the study had reached a critical point where human trials were required to deem her procedure effective. Natasha Romanoff volunteered to be Miss Cho's next link. If the procedure could replicate and reform the cellular tissue of her reproductive organs, it could essentially cure human beings of all of their weaknesses, also making them more apt to survive Ultron's attacks. The results proved effective...her genetic code updated in the process. However, given its unprecedented nature, there was no viable way to predict the outcome right away. But, then some odd years later, Miss Romanoff had managed to conceive young James."_

Natasha let out a shaky gasp, having to turn away to avoid any tears that threatened to fall.

"Jocasta, is there anything more that you can tell us about Ultron? Tony sent me here to do more than just alter his mindset. Vision had implied that...he may very well already exist in this time frame."

_"Mr. Stark devoted countless hours to ensuring the project's success. While I cannot dictate nor fully predict the events that are to unfold, I will share with you the clue that he wanted me to leave to help you on your journey. James, do you remember when Tony was explaining the details of his discovery of time travel? He told you and the others that it was all made possible by a single artifact. That artifact also exists here in 2015. If you can find it, you can destroy Ultron once and for all. And it will also be your salvation, James."_

In an instant, the lights disappeared.

"Well, I guess he's not saying any more," Clint murmured.

"James," Steve asked, "Do you know what he's talking about?"

"I...I don't. I'm sorry."

"If we don't even know what it is that we're looking for-" Rhodey added.

"Look," James glanced between each of their faces, "I may have lived a sheltered life, but there wasn't a day that passed when I didn't have to try to resist the urge within that screamed for me to just go outside and fight. Tony told us about what it was like on the outside...desolated cities, drones patrolling the streets, humans living beneath the ashes, scavenging for food, among the corpses of their fallen friends. They never saw the sun. We all had to hide to stay alive. But I'm done hiding. I'm going to figure this out." He hopped off of the table and walked out of the lab.

Slowly, the rest of the Avengers followed suit and cleared out. James had gone back to his makeshift room, to think. He sat on the corner of the bed, watch in hand, re-examining each button and crevice of the smooth metal. _What were you trying to tell me, Tony_ , he pondered.

***

Steve took a deep breath before knocking on the redheaded assassin's door. She made no effort to get up and go open it. She had retreated to the private quarters of her floor, still reeling from the morning's events.

"Natasha?" Steve asked, "I really think that we should talk."

She silently cursed herself as she sat on the edge of her bed, resting her elbows atop her knees, and fiddling with her thumbs. It had felt like hours had gone by as she stared into space, trying to make sense of what the redheaded boy had told them. The words had repeated themselves over and over again in her mind.

_James Rogers._

She gave no response; she was still unsure of what to say.

"Natasha, please open up."

Finally, she made an effort to go and let him in. As soon as their faces met she answered his plea. "What do you want me to say, Steve?"

For a moment he seemed to look right through her, "I-I don't know. I just think that we need to say something, anything, or we'll start to go crazy."

She removed her palm from the door frame and shook her head slightly, "There's not enough proof..."

"But everything he's told us makes perfect sense. It all falls into place."

"And you and I, do we fall into place?" She looked up directly into his piercing blue irises, her resolve ceasing to deteriorate.

The soldier sighed, briefly squeezing his eyelids shut.

She took a step backwards into the room before spinning on her heels and allowing him to follow her inside.

"Whether or not we want to believe it, we're facing an unknown, Steve," she turned to observe him again, her red curls bobbing to the side as she moved, "Him coming here set us on a different path. Whatever could have been- it's a new universe now."

"I realize that. And for once, I don't know what we're supposed to do next." He sighed again, "I just- I just learned that I'm gonna have a son and that he'll have to carry all of this responsibility on his shoulders. I barely know him and yet I already feel like I've failed him."

"That's not on us."

"It was on us to do better. Come on you can't tell me that you're not feeling the slightest bit of remorse for him...that some...part of you has an unexplainable desire to protect this kid at all costs, even though we hardly know him?"

She glanced downward, tongue briefly grazing her bottom lip as her features turned sharp as glass. She nodded slightly.

They were inches apart. Steve swallowed, "I also found out that his mother is one of my closest friends...I-I don't want this to change anything between us."

She pressed her palm to his chest, "I don't think we have control over that anymore."

Finally, she released her hold and turned away from him once again, breaking the tension. Now facing the windows, she spoke confidently. Steve gazed at her silhouette that was illuminated by the pale grey afternoon sky.

"But I know for sure that we can still do right by James. This is our second chance."


	5. Revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And just when everyone, including myself was thinking this update would never come...
> 
> I want to apologize for being the most inconsistent writer ever. I was in the Romanogers tag on tumblr a few weeks ago and it absolutely blew my mind to see that people are still talking about this story. It made me realize that I have a duty to get this finished. So I will. There will probably be around 3 more chapters to it.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who continues to follow it, either here or on ff. It really means a lot.

"Shall I initiate program start-up, Sir?" 

The voice echoed through to the deepest crevices of the chamber.

"Uh, yeah. Jocasta, begin systems check," Tony answered the A.I.

Out of the corner of his eye, James could observe the screens of the control panel begin to light up one after another. They flickered on like his rapidly increasing heart rate. He could feel a pit within his stomach that seemed to figuratively drag him to the floor. Everything that he knew was potentially about to come to an end. He looked over his shoulder, to Azari, Pym, and Torunn, taking an extra moment to appreciate each of their distinct faces; his siblings, who he could very well be seeing for the last time. 

"James," the boy turned to look at the man who addressed him, "I wanna show you something." He beckoned for James to follow him. They climbed the three steps leading up to the control panel. Tony stopped in front of one of the cluttered workbenches. He picked up a silver-chrome watch.

"Another upgrade?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tony shook his head softly, "No. Back there- that ancient world...I could never fully prepare you for what you're going to find. This is, another one of mankind's big firsts."

James took a deep breath. His now seemingly glassy eyes stared blankly into space.

"But I promise that you'll never be alone. This," Tony raised the watch higher in his hand, "This is more than just another upgrade," he swallowed hard, "I can't give you all the details of the past. If we lose our aura of mystery, we lose a fundamental part of what makes us, us...it's primitive. No matter what happens, we can't let that machine take that away from us. If we behave like him, then what is the point of winning?"

"Tony, I'm- I won't know what to do..." His straight face began to falter.

Tony looked the boy directly in the eye, "You already have all the answers that you need." He handed him the watch, "Just remember what I've told you." The man of iron slowly took a step back, and shifted his attention to all four children, "There are always an infinite number of choices that lie ahead of us, but if you open your mind, the right way becomes clear."

James could feel the cold metal in his hands send icy chills into the nerves of his fingertips. He slid his arm through the wristband and fastened it securely. It was a lot sleeker than what he had previously worn. Having another piece of Tony so close to him instantly made him feel slightly more safe and comfortable.

Still, he almost jumped at the sound of Jocasta disrupting his revere.

"Sir, the program is online, and all of the required systems have passed security calculations. We are ready to commence."

 "It's up to you to make history now."

***

Infinite...choices...lie ahead of us-

Open your mind.

Open...your mind.

*** 

The words jumbled together as whispers in his head, the entangled thoughts waking him from slumber. 

James' eyes shot open. He rolled over onto his right side. He had fallen asleep with his head at the foot of the bed. What time is it? he thought. He instinctively glanced outside of the large windows. The city was beginning to glow amongst an azure sky. He guessed that it was evening. The bedside clock confirmed that it was 5:46 p.m. Still groggy from his nap, he rolled flat onto his back, and rubbed at his eyes. Eventually, he pulled himself from the bed. He looked down at the device still fastened to his wrist in an attempt to recall and organize thoughts from his dream. He was wondering why his mind had travelled to that one moment. What did he want me to see?

He reached for the door handle, stretching his muscles in the process. He could hear murmuring voices. Sure enough, the rest of the Avengers had been idly chatting. 

"Tell me about her," Jane's voice was a breathless whisper. Her eyes were wide with enthusiasm and awe. 

She and Thor were lounging on one of the sofas in the common floor living room. The remaining voices appeared to be coming from the kitchen area. 

"She was born not long before you and I met. At first, the Lady Sif wished to keep her existence a secret from the rest of Asgard, and especially from my father. But I did not have the heart to condemn my own child to a lifetime of secrecy and hiding. Eventually father, mother, and even...Loki came to accept her."

Jane took note of the delayed enunciation of his brother's name as it escaped his lips. She reached to place a hand on his shoulder. 

He smiled softly. He appreciated the gesture.

"I bet she has her father's golden locks and shimmering blue eyes," she playfully whispered the last few words into his ear.

Thor let out a soft chuckle, "Aye, she does. Upon his knowledge, Fandral could not refrain from his incessant banter regarding whether or not Sif was even her real mother." He turned to the side so that Jane's face was now inches away from his lips. He caught a stray lock of her hair as it fell in front of her face, holding it between his fingers for a brief moment. Then he brushed it behind her ear and slid his hand to the back of her head, bringing their lips together.

Jane tightened her grip on Thor's shoulder, letting her eyelids flutter closed and sighing softly into the kiss.

James continued to walk toward the communal kitchen, but stopped when the voices became loud enough for him to discern that he was the subject of conversation. He listened from behind the corner. 

"Your future self would have sent him back with enough time for us to figure this out, right?" The first voice belonged to Rhodey.

"How could we even be sure when and if we've neutralized every possible threat related to Ultron? That- Jocasta thing made it pretty clear that the technology wasn't solely yours." Maria chimed in.

"Still wondering why I would have named it Jocasta..." Tony murmured to himself in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Focus. We need to figure out where we go from here. We're talking about the future of the human race," Rhodey continued.

"Figure out what? We can't come up with a game plan until we know what it is we're after." The billionaire's voice raised an octave.

Bruce interjected, "You're all forgetting to consider that he might not pull through. I mean he's only what? Fourteen?"

"No," Steve spoke firmly, "You don't spend your whole life in a post-apocalyptic hell-scape and then risk the remainder of it to fix things just to not pull through. It may seem impossible, but he knows that it's necessary."

Rhodey paused before continuing, "Okay, we're not questioning his determination but fundamentally, the risks to the time space continuum increase the longer that we wait to act."

"Oh, you're an expert on quantum physics now?" Tony quipped.

"Here's an idea," the Colonel retorted back, "The A.I. said that you gave him clues, why don't you think too, Tony?"

"Sure, let me just delve deep into my memory and recall the thoughts that I haven't had yet-"

"Enough," Steve cut in, "James will come through."

"You really think so? He's a... kid." Maria asked softly.

"Believe me, he hasn't stopped trying since he got here. In the meantime, we need to get our bearings."

There was a moment of silence, then Maria changed the subject, her voice softening to reflect the topic that they had all been tiptoeing around, "How's Natasha?"

Steve answered her promptly, "I couldn't get her to leave her room. I think she needs some time to think it all through in her head," he took a deep breath as he uttered the last sentence, reflecting the fact that he too, was somewhat troubled by the recent revelations.

"She's been up there all afternoon, how long does she need?" Tony asked rhetorically.

"Maybe I should go back up and try to talk to her again." There was a shuffling sound as Steve rose from his chair.

Just then, Clint walked in from the elevator corridor. "Negative," he added, his voice becoming more audible as he approached, "I comm'd to see if she wanted to head down to the shooting range with me but she's still all shaken up. She just...needs to be alone."

"Well, couldn't hurt to try while we're stuck at a crossroads anyways. Her thoughts are just as mixed up as our priorities."

Clint placed a hand on Steve's shoulder as he walked past and smiled, "Good luck...Daddy."

Tony rolled his eyes, partly jealous that Clint beat him to the quip.

"Not funny," Steve commented behind him as he strode towards the elevators.

This time, Natasha hadn't bothered to lock down her floor. 

"You know, I don't think you're gonna find the answers you're looking for staring at the wall," he leaned against the doorway, "I mean, it is a really nice wall, but-"

He could almost feel her smirk but then her shoulders seemed to slump again as she continued her solemn contemplation.

She turned her neck to look up at him, waiting a moment before she spoke, "And what about James?"

"He's still trying to piece everything together, but I think he's getting closer."

Steve slowly strode over to where she was standing. She had shifted her position so that her back was now to the door, and her face was basked in the dim, pale, blue light that bled through the floor-length windows. It cast illuminated rectangles onto the dark hardwood floors.

"I don't think I'm ready to do this- to be a mother."

Steve stayed quiet.

She turned to her left to finally look at him for the first time since he had entered the room, then she continued, "A part of me knows that the longer I stay up here, the longer I can put off acknowledging it."

Steve let out a soft breath, and swallowed hard. He kept his gaze fixated on the world beyond the windows as he spoke, "I'm not gonna pretend that it's easy for me either- learning overnight that one of my closest friends is the mother of my child- and wondering if, all of this will change how she would have felt..." He pinched the skin between his eyebrows with his thumb and index finger.

She stared straight through him with a stoic expression, trying to evaluate the transparency of his statement. 

"But none of it matters," he turned to meet her face, surveying her features while struggling to put up a blank façade. They were inches apart, "We can sit here thinking about what-ifs but the truth is none of it will matter until we stop Ultron for good...and we're running out of time."

***

Listening to the conversation in the kitchen was beginning to make James feel uneasy. He decided to keep walking around the tower, to clear his head. The Avengers had only let him see the bare minimum so far, and the tower was huge. 

He had wandered down a corner of the corridor, away from the communal kitchen. He eventually came across another set of elevators, believing that he had walked the entire length of the floor. This elevator corridor took on the mirror image of the main set on the north end of the tower. His finger hovered over the glowing blue button. As he pressed it, Jarvis' mechanical sounding voice piped up, startling the boy.

"Mister James, I do not think it is a good idea for you to be wandering about Stark Tower without Mister Stark's permission."

James glanced upwards around the room, then lowered his head to stare at the dark marble slabbed floors before responding, "With all due respect...Jarvis, you're attempting to argue the merits of my actions with a ghost. I don't even exist in this world. I'm just...clearing my head."

The elevator dinged and James stepped inside as the ornamented metal doors slid open. When Jarvis refrained from any further comments, James immediately felt more confident in proceeding.   

Once again, he found himself caught off guard by the label signifying the gateway to his father's floor. He realized that with threat still looming over them, this was no longer the time to get to know his parents. It would have to wait for the next life.

Though Tony was to create Ultron's interface, his power source required a foreign element, and Tony, his Tony, had made it explicitly clear that Ultron could exist on multiple fronts. 

James remembered what Tony had told him in the lab earlier. He and Bruce were still working on the code. They hadn't yet moved into the physical phase, meaning they hadn't even thought about a power source. 

He sent me back too early, James whispered to himself. The thought was chilling, but he calmed down upon realizing that maybe it meant that he had more time than initially projected. He pressed the button to the Iron Man floor. If there were any answers to be found within the tower, he knew they'd be there. 

The floor didn't exactly look lived in. The kitchen was spotless, living area tidy. If Tony's secret lab under the fountain back in 2035 was any indication, this floor was more than it appeared to be. He explored warily, feeling totally invasive. 

One by one, he briefly glanced about each room; the bedrooms, bathrooms, and closets all seemed ordinary by Tony’s standards. What are you even doing? he thought. He approached the final unchecked door resting at the end of the corridor. 

James twisted the steel handle, and the door sprang open, revealing total darkness inside. He entered, and immediately, five LED pot lights sprang to life, illuminating the space before him; an entirely empty room, save for its grey marble floor, and cream coloured walls. The room was almost a perfect cube, with at least twelve-foot-high ceilings and quite open, but odd nevertheless. On the wall, opposite from that which he entered from, an outline of a circle appeared to be engraved into the paint. James walked up to it slowly. In closer proximity, James could see that the outline was a groove, indicating a separate panel within the wall. It appeared to be the size of a clipboard. He placed his hand flat against the cool surface. 

"Match accepted. Rogers comma Steven. Welcome, Avenger." The automated voice rippling through the silence startled him. It must be another Jarvis, James thought. Although this voice was clearly female, and spoke with a different sort of accent. 

The back wall instantly began to slide apart in two at the middle, revealing the hidden treasure within. On the newly exposed wall in front of him hung the entirety of the Iron Man armour, in its current mark, in bright red and gold. James gasped. His mind thought back to Tony's stories, and how he was now witnessing them unfold before his eyes. James strode over to the suit. The arc reactor shone ever so brilliantly, basking the suit in a blue glow. 

Suddenly, he felt the floor sink an inch beneath his foot. He looked down to see that he had activated some sort of switch. The wall holding the armour slowly began to spin. It stopped when it reached ninety degrees, revealing an open archway.

The female voice piped up again, "Now entering the Vault."

Automated LEDs on the floor flickered on in staggering intervals as James stepped through the archway. The new room was vast, the sound of his footsteps echoing endlessly. From what James could observe in the light, its surfaces were all coated in a glossy black, creating an endless void of space. James wondered if this could be a whole secret floor. 

The lights flicked on in front of him as he kept walking forward, but only in a narrow path a few feet wide. James was scared to find out what would happen if he stepped out of its area of luminance, so he followed along forward. 

Suddenly, a cluster of the same lights flicked on to the left of the path, several metres away. James jumped at the sudden change. The light cascaded down onto a giant silver, metal form, what looked like a primitive version of the Iron Man suit. 

Pressing on his wrist watch, James whispered, “Jocasta, are you seeing this right now?”

“Yes James, this appears to be the Iron Monger armour worn by Obadiah Stane, Co-CEO of Stark Industries before his defection in the year 2008.” Jocasta’s voice echoed.

“Woah,” James gazed upon the suit, mouth slightly open. He continued on forward, and more lights appeared, this time on both his left and right. On the right stood a similar-looking silver metal suit, but this one had long ropes dangling from the gauntlets. The three suits on the left had smaller box-shaped heads and were painted various combinations of blue and green. James turned to admire the right side first.

As if hearing James’ thoughts, Jocasta explained, “This armour was worn by Whiplash, also known as Ivan Vanko, son of Anton Vanko, co-creator of the arc reactor alongside Howard Stark. The suits to your left aren’t in fact suits, they’re the leftover Hammer Drones, created by Justin Hammer of Hammer Industries to replace the United States military. The initiative never took off and after the drones’ failed unveiling, Hammer Industries fell into bankruptcy.”

“I think I remember Tony telling us these stories,” James replied. As he pressed on down the path, another thought occurred to him, “Hey Jocasta, do you think that female A.I. is spying on us right now?”

“It appears F.R.I.D.A.Y. has not triggered any alarm protocols. As you were granted clearance, I doubt there is anything to be concerned about.”

Lights continued to illuminate various artifacts as James moved forward, and Jocasta continued to provide explanations, “This is the Stark Expo site model circa 1970. The layout was a creative initiate on behalf of Howard Stark to mirror the chemical foundation for a new element. Mr. Stark realized this discovery in the year 2010. The following is an Asgardian artifact called the Destroyer, removed from Odin’s treasure room and sent to earth by Loki in the year 2011.”

James sighed, “This is all fascinating, but I don’t think any of it is gonna help us.” Just as it began to appear a pointless endeavor, the straight path began to widen and curve. The lights now formed a large circle in front of him, signifying the end of the walk. A larger pot light illuminated the centre of the circular platform, showcasing its display. A large metal contraption, formed of circular discs and bulky, jagged shards rested on the black floor.

“James, this is the portal machine Loki used to bring the Chitauri army to earth in the year 2012. It was stationed right here in Avengers Tower, back then, Stark Tower.”

James’ eyes widened, “Jocasta this was the big battle for New York, the one that formally introduced the Avengers as heroes to the world!”

“Yes. The battle of New York fundamentally changed the human race forever…establishing their notable presence among other races of the universe.”

James began to circle around the machine, admiring it from a short distance, “Jocasta, this machine brought aliens to earth. Does that mean it also worked like the Bifrost?”  
“In principle, yes, but Loki’s machine was powered explicitly by the tesseract, and in conjunction, his scepter.”

At the mention of the word, James was hit with a wave of revelation and excitement. “Wait…Loki’s scepter? Isn’t that what Tony used to help him make the time machine?”

“Yes.”

James stopped pacing and stood in place, still admiring the contraption before him, “Jocasta, where is Loki’s scepter in 2015?”

“Its location is currently unknown. After the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. in 2014, the scepter fell into the hands of Hydra. The Avengers apprehend the scepter in three months’ time, after which Mr. Stark and Bruce Banner use its technology to create Ultron.”

“So, problem solved. Tony knows not to use it for evil. Then why am I still here?”

“I believe you are meant to do more than simply convince just Mr. Stark, James.”

James paused for a moment in contemplation. Open your mind… “So, the tesseract enables the scepter, the scepter enables Ultron. Which means whoever obtains the scepter’s energy…” 

His gaze met the metal pincers in the centre of the machine, “…holds the key…” He released a breath, “Jocasta, I know what we have to do!”

***

“What if there’s a way to tap into his consciousness…see what he knows?” Maria suggested.

Banner interjected, “Do you realize the dangers that could impose to the time space continuum?” 

"Maria, we’re not gonna harass the kid into having a revelation. If we do this, we do this on his terms." Tony enunciated.

“You’re all forgetting that initiation of the software is so far beyond the horizon at this point.”

“Yet, supposedly the two of us are going to unlock all the answers ‘soon.’”

“Not just you,” James appeared behind the conversing Avengers, voice full of absolution. The Avengers turned toward him, mixed looks of hopefulness and intrigue illuminating their features.

***

“Does it change anything for you...knowing the outcome?”  
“It doesn’t matter. My life stopped being my own the second I went into that ice.”

“We still get to make choices, Steve. We still get confronted with our duty to repress our own sentiment…but we always fight against it. Seeing him here, now, with my own two eyes…”

“It changes things,” Steve finished her thought, admitting defeat.

***

“What do you mean?” 

“Why do you think he sent me here now, while Ultron is still so far from physical realization? You’re missing the key…that opens your mind to the power of the future.”

“It’s the mind stone,” Thor realized.

“The scepter,” Tony snapped his finger, then turned to address Banner, “That’s how we do it.”

James nodded, smiling, “Hydra has the scepter, and the scepter must have the data you need, just like it helped you create the portal that brought me here. If I’m still existing in this timeline it’s because Hydra—”

“…can also control Ultron,” Maria finished

***

Natasha swallowed hard, “Do you know why I didn’t leave with you and Sam?” She turned to him once more, “I couldn’t risk being compromised,” there was a slight break in her voice.

He moved to meet her gaze again, assessing the sheer vulnerability she was forcing herself to reveal in this moment. He felt utterly defeated. 

“But life is too short,” she continued, her gaze fixed matching his.

***

Rhodey piped up, “So we find the scepter and destroy it and all of its Hydra files once and for all,”

“We don’t know where Hydra’s keeping it,” reminded Maria. 

"Maybe…there’s a way to trace its energy signature,” Jane stepped forward from behind Thor, and all eyes fell to her, “Tony used the energy of an infinity stone to send you here, which means you came into direct contact with its radiation and survived.” She was beaming. Thor instantly understood what she was getting at, and met her stare, mirroring her smile. He let out a short chuckle.

“Oh my god,” Tony snickered as the wheels began to click in his own head.

“What?” James demanded, glancing about their expressions, now lost.

***

He understood exactly what she was getting at; he felt it too. James’ existence was proof that there had to be an endgame to all of their fighting—a reason for it…something connecting them to their humanity.

Neither one of them had backed away. They remained motionless for a brief moment, then finally, Steve closed the space between them. 

***

“My friends, James has wielded the power of an infinity stone. He is the key.”

**Author's Note:**

> Background Info:
> 
>  
> 
> James Rogers: Son of Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff (approx. 14 years old)
> 
> Torunn Thorsdóttir: Daughter of Thor and Sif (approx. 26 years old, but she's basically 14) We're going with the canon where Asgardian children start off aging like mortals and it eventually slows down. I'm doing this to erase Thor's shittiness in Next Avengers. My interpretation is that Thor and Sif would have had a brief fling just before the first Thor film and Sif would have raised Torunn on her own for that year. Then while the Bifrost was destroyed she told Thor about Torunn and they got people to look after her on Asgard while they were out defending the nine realms. After Thor 2 he tells Jane he has a daughter and they would bring her to earth sometime before AOU so she could spend some time with her father. Thor wants her to grow up among humans so he leaves her with Tony Stark after the Avengers lose the fight.
> 
> Francis Barton: Son of Clint Barton and Bobbi Morse (approx 16 years old) We're pretending that it's not Ultimates Clint in AOU but that he was already dating Bobbi. Or if you want to stick with Ultimates Clint then you can headcanon him as the son of Laura Barton. Either way he's really only in this chapter for the sake of Next Avengers.
> 
> Henry Pym Jr.: Son of Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne (approx. 9 years old) I don't like what they're doing with Janet in Antman so let's pretend that Pym is also the result of a brief fling and Janet isn't dead before Antman, okay?
> 
> Azari T'Challa: Son of T'Challa and Ororo Munroe (approx. 15 years old) The Avengers would have met Hank, Janet, and T'Challa sometime after or during AOU. Azari's mother is random for the purpose of this story because Storm wouldn't work in MCU. Also I didn't mention Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch but it is understood that they were there in 2015
> 
> Ultra City: What Ultron renamed New York City after he took it over
> 
> Iron Avengers: In Next Avengers Tony builds robot versions of the deceased heroes as a secondary defense. In the movie, the kids discover these robots but they are irrelevant to this story
> 
> Jocasta: Tony's new A.I. that replaces Jarvis/Vision


End file.
